Proofread by Fu Tianying
Because rice from the southeast cannot be transported directly into the city after arriving at Zhangjiawan through the waterway of the ca.n.a.l. It has to be carried by the workers at dark to Dayun warehouse in Tongzhou. There are four warehouses in imperial city, and 11 Beijing warehouses. The 11 Beijing warehouses have 52 sub-warehouses. When it is time to open the warehouses, rice needs to be transported from Tongzhou warehouse to Beijing warehouse by means of chariots and horses.
Dayun Warehouse in Tongzhou can be divided into three warehouses: west, south and the middle, having 16 sub-warehouses in total. Among them, four are charged by Ma Family. They recruit workers to carry in or out grains, and meanwhile guard against fire and theft. Those keepers are mostly from Ma family or Datong faction, and they have Kongfu and courage, so some ordinary thieves dare not sneak into the warehouses and steal.
One day, Ma Tian"en took the new words she just wrote to show off in front of her father. Of course, it would be much better if her father rewarded her with some money.
When reaching at the door of her father"s study, she found that the door was closed and there stood a manservant. She could hear furious quarrels when approaching the door. The manservant noticed Ma Tian"en and intended to greet. Ma Tian"en made a sign of no speaking and walked close to the door. The manservant had to look ahead, pretending not to see her.
"Ghost? How could?"
"It is true. Many workers have seen it. Now everyone is frightened."
"Nonsense! Why does the ghost go there? Is it a hungry ghost?"
"Master, I don"t believe, either. But everyone talks about and describes it vividly. They said it is a water ghost. Wherever it goes, it will leave water marks. Someone also said that the water ghost was probably......killed by us Ma Family, so it ruins our warehouses and doesn"t hara.s.s others. Several days ago, some of our keepers were scratched, and they said the ghost has long claws.
Ma Tian"en was so enchanted by their talking that her body leaned forward and then burst the slack door open. She rolled into the room.
The people inside were frightened. Ma Tian"en stood up, feeling a little embarra.s.sed and smiled. Then she found the one who talked to dad was the charger of warehouses and she had met him before. He was also the clansman of Ma Family. Ma should call him uncle according to his position in the family hierarchy.
"Uncle, is it true? The ghost is male or female? Is it really terrifying?" Ma Tian"en asked curiously.
"Um....."
"Tian"en, keep your nose out of this and we"ll take care of it." Dad immediately knew what she wanted to do and tried to stop her at once. Someone must plan it. Ma Tian"en naturally likes to join in the fun. If she meddles in, it may cause more troubles.
"Dad, don"t you say that I need more practice? It is the best chance. How about handing it to me? I promise I will catch the ghost."
"No way.What if something happens to you?" Dad refused.
"Dad, you shouldn"t think like that. Other workers" lives are as valuable as mine! When I go to the warehouse, I promise I will follow my uncle"s arrangement. What"s your opinion?" When hearing the ghost, Ma Tian"en cheered up suddenly and acted in a dignified way.
Of course, her father knew she wanted to join in the fun. However, she is sure to take over the family"s business. The ghost didn"t hurt anyone, and what it wants is to trouble the Ma Family. So she might as well have a look. It is time to allow her to do something independently.
Considering this, Dad said: "Alright, but you should listen to your uncle. Otherwise, you will never be able to go out. And, it can"t affect your study."
"I promise it will not. Uncle, let"s go and have a look. You tell me about that on the way to the warehouse." Ma Tian"en asked her uncle to leave the moment she got her father"s agreement, because she was afraid that her father would go back on his word.
Ashun followed her when Ma Tian"en got out of the door. They sat in the carriage the uncle took. Ma Tian"en couldn"t help asking about the haunt. The uncle told her again in details. The night before, the keepers of the warehouse found a white shadow flas.h.i.+ng by but couldn"t find anyone. Only a water mark was left that smelled like aquatic plants. The next night, they added more keepers, and finally the shadow appeared again. They began to search and heard a scream. The crowd followed the sound and found a man on whose chest a deep wound was scratched. The flesh in the wound was turned out. The man murmured the ghost thing, twitching in fright. It seemed that he was shocked by the ghost.
Then the news about the ghost in warehouse spread quickly. The workers were too scared to work, especially the keepers at night. They all claimed for stopping work, and some even asked for Taoist sacrificial ceremony. In this case, the uncle hurried to discuss with Master Ma on how to cope with it.
"Pretending to be a ghost and hara.s.sing our family business? I will teach you a lesson!" Ma Tian"en often plays tricks, so she doesn"t believe the ghost is true. She planned how to cope with the ghost, but the uncle warned her not to act on impulse and put safety in the first place.
The haunted warehouses are large, and they include almost seventy or eighty granaries. Each warehouse can store about 2,500 Dans (dan: unit of measurement in ancient China). The upper of the warehouse has four spires, covered with yellow glazed tile and colored glaze roof crown of green side. The four corners are decorated with carved running beasts. The upper area can be used for drying grain and facilitating drainage.
Arriving at the warehouse, they saw a group of workers gathering at the door and were not willing to enter. On the ground piled up many grains and some wooden cases for loading.
The uncle signed, "These workers believe that the ghost is still in the warehouse, so they are not willing to do the job, even if we pay them more money. I have no idea how to deal with it."
Ma Tian"en jumped down from the carriage, clapping her chest and said, "Relax, it is just a ghost. I will catch it and hang it on for several days. I am sure that I will turn the water ghost into dried fish."
With the arrival of Ma Tian"en and the uncle, the noise died down for a while. When Ma was here, some workers who recognized her felt a little embarra.s.sed; others even yelled at her: "Master Ma, it is not because we don"t want to work; the warehouse is haunted by the ghost. What if we are caught by the ghost? We all have parents and children, so we can"t die."
When it comes to this kind of thing, if one talks about it, others naturally chime in with him. Instantly, the situation became noisier than before.
"Where did the ghost come from? Water ghost or hungry ghost? It seems that there"s something wrong with your brains. We Ma Family is blessed by Dragon King, and no ghost dares to hara.s.s us!" Ma Tian"en grew up to be very good at making troubles, so she could cope with this noisy environment. She thought there must be leaders. Looking around, she indeed found several workers who were active.
"Master Ma, to be honest, it is easy to be brave from a safe distance. You, a man of high status, can"t understand our misery. If there is no ghost, how can"t we earn that money? How about you talking to your father to invite a Taoist priest. After the ghost is caught, we will start to work." One man said and others hurried to agree.
"No, I can catch ghost. You stay here and I enter into the warehouse now. I"ll be out this time tomorrow. If I am fine, it means that there is no ghost. If there is, you will be lucky enough to see the living ghost!" Then, Ma Tian"en swaggered toward the warehouse.
The uncle hurriedly stopped her, lowered his voice and said, "Tian"en, calm down, I will borrow some master hands from Datong faction to come with you."
"No, I can deal with it myself. I am afraid the ghost does not dare to come out if there are many people." Halfway, she suddenly turned her head and pointed to the man who had just taken the lead and said, "How about you coming with me?" The man shook his head continuously and stepped back.
Ma Tian"en snorted, strode into the granary and slammed the door.