Chapter 18 So the evil spirits we exorcised today were actually driven away...
Qiutang Courtyard is spacious and is the best place in the Pei residence besides Zhengyang Courtyard. A century-old pear tree grows in the courtyard, which is covered with flowers in spring and has a wonderful fragrance.
Inside, the lacquered wooden furniture was brightly colored, and a magnificent painted screen on the left side of the room separated the inner and outer rooms. Soft mats were laid on the floor, and exquisite utensils filled the chests and cabinets.
He Jiaying threw herself onto the dressing table, carefully examining her face in the five-sided bronze mirror. The wounds on her face were gradually fading, leaving only a tiny scar. Shuying knelt beside her, gently combing her hair.
He Jiaying looked at it for a while, then suddenly threw down the comb in her hand and looked at Shuying with a worried expression. "My aunt and cousin are looking at Song Huiyin more and more. I'm afraid there will be no place for me in this mansion in the future."
Shuying quickly comforted her, "How could that be? The Queen Dowager cherishes you dearly, and these days the tonics sent to you have been flowing in like water."
Just as He Jiaying was about to reply, there was a commotion outside. A maid stood at the door and said respectfully, "Young lady, Aunt Zhang requests an audience."
She looked puzzled. "Who is Aunt Zhang?"
Shuying leaned close to her ear and whispered, "It's the one you sent to shout and provoke Lady Song that day."
"What's she doing here?" He Jiaying asked listlessly, half-lying on the couch. She waved for Shuying to leave. She rested on the couch with her eyes half-closed. After Shuying left the room, she came back in. "Miss, Aunt Zhang says she has something important to discuss with you. Please do me the honor."
He Jiaying shifted to a more comfortable position and instructed, "Let her in."
After entering the room, Zhang Ao dared not look around. She knelt before the bed and kowtowed, saying, "May the young lady be well."
He Jiaying snorted twice, displeased, and said, "All right? Which eye of yours saw that I'm all right?"
Old Lady Zhang kowtowed several times, fawningly saying, "It's all that woman Song's fault..."
"Alright! Don't mention her in front of me. What do you want?" He Jiaying opened her eyes impatiently, interrupting Zhang Ao's words.
Zhang Ao's face lit up with a shrewd look. She knelt down, crawled a few steps, and whispered a few words in He Jiaying's ear.
He Jiaying's face froze, and she glanced at Zhang Ao, "This is a matter of life and death!"
Aunt Cai suddenly raised her hand and slapped her knee, raising her voice: "My dear girl, if you don't do something, you're really going to be kicked out!"
He Jiaying got up and paced back and forth in the room. Seeing her indecisive look, Zhang Ao added another strong dose of medicine, "I just heard everyone in the manor talking about how the young general consummated his marriage with Miss Song last night."
He Jiaying remained silent.
Zhang Ao added another strong dose of medicine, "This servant has also heard that the Queen is looking for a husband for you, and wants to marry you off in a hurry!"
"Impossible!" He Jiaying turned around and shouted angrily, startling Shuying who was guarding outside the door.
Shuying raised her hand and knocked on the door. "Young lady, what's wrong?"
She waited for a long time without getting a response, and just as she was about to push the door open, a voice came from inside, "It's nothing, go to the kitchen and get some milk tea."
Seeing that her voice was normal, Shuying replied with a "Yes" and turned to leave.
Inside the house, He Jiaying stared intently at Zhang Ao, "I'm entrusting this matter to you. Make sure everything is done thoroughly and no one notices anything amiss!"
Aunt Zhang nodded firmly, "Don't worry, my lady." She left Qiutang Courtyard with satisfaction, clutching the heavy gold ingot in her hand.
——
Yan Niang placed the washed clothes into the cupboard. She knelt on the ground to tidy them up, when she suddenly noticed that the scent of the incense on the clothes was strange, unlike the usual fragrance.
She complained a couple of times, then took out all the neatly arranged clothes, intending to have them fumigated again.
Huiyin noticed her movement and approached Yanniang, "What's wrong?"
Yan Niang struggled to hold the lacquer tray, saying, "I don't know who changed the incense. I'll go and tell them to re-scent it."
She swayed unsteadily, her view obstructed by the pile of clothes in front of her; she had difficulty even walking, let alone going down the stairs.
Huiyin leaned closer to smell the clothes and confirmed that the incense had indeed been changed. She took the clothes from Yanniang's arms and put them in the cupboard. "This smells quite nice. Let's leave it as is."
Yan Niang also knelt down and sat down with Hui Yin, tidying their clothes and chatting: "Just now, someone from Zhengyang Courtyard came to deliver a message that a witchcraft ritual will be held in the mansion in three days to exorcise evil spirits and ward off disasters."
Huiyin asked in confusion, "Why would you need to perform a ritual for no reason?"
"It is said that a highly respected Taoist priest named Zhang has come to Chang'an City, and princes and nobles are all vying to invite him to their homes to exorcise evil spirits."
Huiyin got up and walked to the top of the stairs outside, calling Asang up to ask, "I heard that a ritual is being performed in the manor. Does Madam always believe in this?"
After recalling for a moment, Asang replied, "The Queen does believe in this, and she has invited her to do so several times in the past few years."
Huiyin nodded and didn't ask anything more.
Three days passed peacefully. On the day of the ceremony, Madam Pei sent someone to invite Huiyin to the front hall early in the morning. Yan Niang helped Huiyin get dressed, choosing a plain-colored wide-sleeved curved-hem dress. Her hair was parted into two sections, gathered at the back of her neck and tied into a bun that hung down to her back, then secured with a jade hairpin.
When she arrived, the entire wooden corridor in front of the hall was surrounded by spirit flags painted with the Twenty-Eight Mansions, with bells hanging from the bottom. A huge Tai Chi Bagua diagram was painted in cinnabar on the ground in the courtyard.
In the very center stood a lacquered wooden altar table, covered with all sorts of ritual implements. The so-called highly skilled Taoist priest, Zhang, was kneeling steadily on a prayer mat before the altar, wearing a crown and holding a peach wood talisman sword, his eyes closed as he chanted incantations.
Behind him gathered four young men wearing painted masks, their upper bodies painted with images of a human, beast, and lion. They clung to each other's shoulders, bent over, and danced together, chanting ancient exorcism incantations.
Seeing this scene, Huiyin felt a vague unease and silently stood behind Madam Pei, who was praying with her eyes closed.
Nowadays, whether it is royalty or common people, they all believe in witchcraft. When they encounter illness, disaster or ominous signs, they often ask shamans or sorcerers to preside over exorcism ceremonies in order to get rid of disasters and misfortunes.
From the moment Huiyin entered the main hall, He Jiaying stared intently at her figure. She clenched her fists, thinking resentfully that Song Huiyin's unadorned appearance outshone everyone else present.
Despite her extremely simple and elegant attire, it perfectly complemented her face, giving her a cool and aloof air, like a fairy descending to earth.
Her gaze shifted to the center, and upon seeing the chilling bill, she shuddered and quickly closed her eyes, unable to bear looking any longer.
As the time approached, Zhang Fangshi rose and walked around the front hall, his gaze sweeping over everyone in the mansion. Then, he stood in the center and said, "Please, Madam, and everyone in the mansion, pray to Heaven together. After the prayer, we will begin the exorcism."
The crowd obediently knelt on the prayer mats, respectfully kowtowed three times to the law, and then closed their eyes to pray.
Huiyin opened her eyes and looked around. Madam Pei and He Jiaying beside her, as well as the servants and Yan Niang kneeling to the side, all looked sincere and prayed with great reverence on the prayer mats.
She suddenly felt someone watching her. Huiyin looked up and saw that the Taoist priest was staring at her intently with a lewd look in his eyes.
Her heart skipped a beat, a bad premonition rising within her. Suddenly, everything around her seemed to transform into a cage, binding her and leaving her nowhere to escape.
It turns out that the evil spirit to be exorcised and the demon to be driven away today was her.
After the prayer ended, the Taoist priest began to wield the peach wood talisman sword. Huiyin stood to the right of Madam Pei, her hands sweating. She wanted to find Yanniang and ask her to quickly go and inform Pei Yu.
But the sorcerer kept blocking their way, preventing her from getting away.
Before long, Zhang Fangshi stopped at the table, lit a cinnabar incantation, and threw it into the air. The incantation burned to ashes and then suddenly exploded. At the same time, the four bells embedded in the spirit flag began to shake rapidly.
The sound of "ding-a-ling" echoed through the front hall, startling everyone who looked around in alarm.
Madam Pei hugged the trembling He Jiaying and asked anxiously, "Master Zhang, what happened!"
Zhang Fangshi stroked his beard, his expression enigmatic: "Madam, the bell is ringing, which means there are evil spirits causing trouble in the mansion!"
“Evil spirits? How could that be?” Madam Pei asked, her face filled with fear.
Zhang Fangshi took the bronze bell from the bill and raised his hand to comfort Madam Pei, "Madam, don't be afraid. This Heavenly Master has come to the capital for this evil spirit. I will capture her and rid your household of this scourge."
"Good, good, alchemist, get rid of her quickly!"
Zhang Fangshi raised the bell in his hand, looked around, and said, "This is a magical artifact of our sect. It will only ring when it encounters evil spirits, so please don't be afraid."
After he finished speaking, he stood in front of everyone, holding up the copper bell, and tried it on each person. The bell never rang, and those who had been tested breathed a sigh of relief and gathered together to discuss who the evil spirit was.
Huiyin coldly watched Zhang Fangshi's pretentious actions; everything today was aimed at her.
She gripped her sleeves tightly, trying to think of a way to break the deadlock.
People at the time were extremely superstitious about sorcerers and spirits, and what happened today was truly vicious. If Pei Yu hadn't returned, she would have had no chance of escaping. Besides, she didn't know whether Pei Yu believed in sorcerers or whether he would risk the world's condemnation to save her.
Finally, all the servants in the courtyard had been tested, and the copper bell did not make any unusual noise. Now only Madam Pei, He Jiaying, and Huiyin remained untested.
Zhang Fangshi approached the three men with a copper bell in hand, bowed respectfully, and then said to Madam Pei, "Madam, I apologize for my rudeness."
He held up the copper bell in front of Madam Pei, but it didn't ring, and Madam Pei breathed a sigh of relief. He then held up the copper bell in front of He Jiaying, whose face was filled with fear, but the bell still didn't ring.
Now, only Huiyin remained, and everyone's eyes were on her.
Zhang Fangshi, holding up the copper bell, asked Madam Pei, "Madam, may I ask who this gentleman is?"
Madam Pei explained, "She is my son's concubine, and she has just entered the household."
"oh?"
Zhang Fangshi strolled over to Huiyin's face, looked her up and down, and asked, "Just arrived at the manor?"
If it were anyone else, he would have panicked by being stared at like that, but the woman in front of him stared at him without flinching, her eyes never wavering for a moment.
Zhang Fangshi suddenly shook his head, then raised the copper bell in his hand and placed it in front of Huiyin. Three breaths later, the copper bell, which had been quiet, suddenly rang out, the shrill sound startling everyone awake.
He immediately took three steps back, grabbed the peach wood talisman sword from the bill, pointed it at Huiyin, and shouted angrily: "Evil spirit, show yourself at once!"
Everyone was bewildered by him, and Madam Pei also spoke up to help Huiyin out of the predicament, "Fangshi, are you sure you're not mistaken? How could she... be an evil spirit?"
Zhang Fangshi still did not sheathe his sword, but instead moved two points closer, the tip of his sword pointing directly at Huiyin's face.
“Madam, Tong Ling is absolutely right, she is an evil spirit! Evil spirits like her commit extremely serious crimes, and even their relatives will lose their lives because of her influence.”
At this moment, someone shouted, "It seems that she is the only one from the Song family who has survived."
These words caused widespread panic, and even Madam Pei unconsciously pulled He Jiaying back a few steps.
Yan Niang rushed out and kowtowed repeatedly to Madam Pei: "Your Majesty, this is impossible! My lady is definitely not an evil spirit! If it is said that my lady brings misfortune to her relatives, why have I never had any mishaps while serving by her side for seventeen years!"
Zhang Fangshi added: "The so-called kinship naturally includes parents, siblings, and husband."
Huiyin, who hadn't spoken until now, stepped forward, helped up Yanniang who was kowtowing repeatedly on the ground, and squeezed her hand tightly.
Yan Niang instantly understood her meaning, retreated to her original position, and left the front hall while everyone was not paying attention.
Huiyin then turned to the sorcerer and asked, "The sorcerer says I am an evil spirit. Besides this copper bell, is there any other evidence?"
Displeased, Zhang Fangshi flicked his wide sleeves, raised the sword, and approached Huiyin. "This is a magical bronze bell, a powerful tool for exorcising evil spirits. It is irrefutable proof. What other evidence do we need?"
Huiyin pointed to the copper bell and said, "You brought this bell and you operated it. It's hard to guarantee that you won't tamper with it."
"You evil spirit, how dare you question this sorcerer!" Zhang Fangshi roared, throwing down his wooden sword and turning to pick up a lacquered ear cup from the book, the contents of which were unknown.
Zhang Fangshi sneered, "Since you won't shed a tear until you see the coffin, then this Fangshi will make you reveal your true form in front of everyone!"
He made a hand seal in front of his chest, held up the ear cup and chanted incantations, then poured the liquid in the cup onto Huiyin's plain dress.
In the blink of an eye, Huiyin's dress suddenly changed color, surrounded by a green flame. Strangely, the flame could neither burn her clothes nor scorch her.
Upon witnessing this bizarre scene, everyone exclaimed, "She really is an evil spirit!"
"How could anyone not be afraid of fire!"
Looking at the raging green flames burning on her body, Huiyin subconsciously took a few steps back, her cheeks instantly losing all color.
Zhang Fangshi's men, wielding wooden swords, surrounded her, chanting incessantly: "By the Big Dipper above, protect my true form. Those who defy me shall die, those who obey me shall live. So be it!"
She looked up, her mind blank. Although it was springtime, she felt as if she were in a snowy wonderland, a chill creeping over her entire body.
A note from the author:
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My next pre-order novel is called "The Empress Has Returned to the Palace in Triumph." Please add it to your favorites if you like it!
Many people say that Xin Yi was lucky, and she herself thought so too. As the daughter of a border general, she was fortunate enough to marry Prince Su as his principal wife. The couple were deeply in love when they were young, and they had no other relatives for three years after their marriage.
Then, the late emperor suddenly died, and the Rebellion of the Three Princes resulted in countless deaths and injuries. In the royal family, only Prince Su, an adult prince, was left, and he seized the opportunity to become the new emperor.
As a result, Xin Yi naturally became the empress, and everyone in the capital said she was lucky.
The emperor and empress were deeply in love, and the emperor's exclusive favor in the imperial harem became a celebrated story.
——
In the fifth year of the new emperor's reign, the weather was favorable, the country was peaceful and prosperous, and he took in many concubines.
This year marked the third year of Xin Yi's imprisonment in the Northern Palace. As she gazed at the snow plum blossoms falling softly in the cold wind, she reminisced about the past.
When Liu Zhan first ascended the throne, the imperial court and harem were controlled by the Liang family, who kowtowed before him and swore: "I only brought them into the palace to balance the court, and I will never touch them!"
Xin Yi looked into his tearful eyes and believed him.
Later, she and Consort Liang became pregnant only a month apart. He held her and comforted her, saying, "Don't worry, the position of Crown Prince will only belong to our child in the future."
Later, Consort Liang miscarried, and all the clues pointed to Xin Yi. She tried to defend herself, but he held the weak and weeping Consort Liang and said coldly, "Once your child is born, give it to Empress Dowager Liang to raise."
She didn't even have time to see the child before she was hurriedly taken away and banished to the Northern Palace for confinement while still in her postpartum period, forbidden to leave without being summoned.
Her young son was taken away, her father and brothers were demoted, and she was imprisoned for three years. Xin Yi resented and hated for three years, but then she suddenly understood.
Love is the most useless thing in the world; power is the only true path.
——
Xie Qingyan, a son of the Xie family, is the most principled person in the family's history.
He possessed profound wisdom and unparalleled intelligence. Before he even reached adulthood, he had already become a young leader in the court who could turn the tide of events. A single word from him could settle a storm, and a single strategy could secure the nation.
As a child, he witnessed the Liang family, relatives of the emperor, wreaking havoc on the court, which triggered the Rebellion of the Three Princes and caused the people to be displaced.
Xie Qingyan vowed to eliminate the maternal relatives and support the country, not for the honor or disgrace of his family, nor for a place in history, but because of his most fervent ideal of serving his country and his desire for a peaceful and prosperous world.
But no one knew that this young minister harbored a secret—he admired the woman who was destined to be his adversary.
Knowing full well that what lay ahead was an abyss, Xie Qingyan willingly approached it step by step.
This lucid descent into depravity began the moment he met Xin Yi, and there was no turning back.
Mine clearance:
Female not male 1/Male 2 rises to power/Wife-chasing drama/Female lead is an empress with a child
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