Chapter 140 out of 513 – Who weaved this large trap? (1)
Since ancient times, was there any residence that didn’t have departing spirits that demanded vengeance for dying unjustly? Although there were plenty of hauntings that turned out fake, people always felt uneasy afterwards.
Mu Shuiqing had recently suffered a miscarriage, and now there was the sound of a baby crying in the middle of the night. Marquis Moyu brought Nie Sangyu to Feiyu Courtyard to look. But, when he pushed open the doors, the crying abruptly stopped.
The people in Jiyue Courtyard had been startled awake. In Qiangwei Courtyard, Wen Wan had just been about fall asleep, but the noise had frightened her into alertness. She was currently crying out of fear.
Other than Qian Lianxue, who wasn’t feeling well, the women in the various courtyards hurriedly put on their outer robes and came to Marquis Moyu’s study.
Standing at the very front of the group, Jinse asked in an exaggerated tone, “Did you hear the recent crying? Aiya, it was the sound of a baby crying. And, it was so wretched and mournful. It had to be cry of an innocent baby that died…”
With a stern face, Qi Siling berated, “Nonsense! What kind of place do you think this is? How dare you speak rubbis.h.!.+”
Jinse cynically covered her stomach and said, “Older sister, you haven’t been pregnant before, so you naturally can’t hear the grievances in that baby’s cries. Jinse’s pitiful baby had died the same way as Mu Shuiqing’s, that’s how Jinse can tell that the baby is crying because it had died unjustly.”
Wen Wan seemed as if she was about to topple over. She desperately grabbed Marquis Moyu’s sleeve.
Ning Yuxuan quietly comforted her, then he looked at the group of people and said, “Ghosts are something that can only be created by people to torment others. If any of you still feel uneasy, I’ll request for the sage monk to come over and do a purification ritual tomorrow. I’ll also have judicial officers come by to investigate who’s behind this fake ghost.”
Everyone looked at each other and didn’t say another word.
Marquis Moyu waved his hand and said, “All of you, go back to your courtyards and rest.”
The group of women slowly dispersed, but Wen Wan still clutched Ning Yuxuan’s sleeve. “Aren’t you going to come with me? I’m scared.”
Marquis Moyu gently kissed her forehead. “I’ll send people to guard your courtyard. I have too many official doc.u.ments to go through and won’t be able to sleep tonight. Wan-er, be good.”
Wen Wan aggrievedly glanced at him, then she looked at Nie Sangyu, who had her head silently lowered. She helplessly took a step outside and said, “Then, you have to come see me once you’re done.”
“Okay.” Marquis Moyu nodded.
—
Jinse didn’t look very scared as she walked at front of the group with Dingxiang following after her. She turned her head and saw that Wen Wan had also come outside. She pulled her head back slightly and said, “Mistress Wan, is the marquis not coming with you? That grievance is so heavy and it’s definitely directed towards you, ah.”
Wen Wan stopped walking, raised her chin, and said, “There’s no use in trying to scare me. I had nothing to do with your baby or Mu Shuiqing’s baby. No matter what, it’s not my fault.”
Mu Shuiqing had been stably standing before colliding into her as she got up to go to the bathroom. Someone must have pushed Mu Shuiqing. She hadn’t done anything wrong. Tanxiang was the one that pushed Mu Shuiqing away. No matter what, she couldn’t be blamed, right? After Wen Wan silently encouraged herself, she raised her foot and resumed walking.
Jinse responded with a strange little laugh, then she turned around and continued walking forward. When the group of people pa.s.sed by Feiyu Courtyard, they all slightly speed up. Wen Wan was walking at the back of the group and couldn’t resist taking a few scurrying steps to decrease the distance between herself and the group.
“Wahh,” the sound of a baby crying started again. Wen Wan’s legs felt weak and she fell down. The people in front of her all ran away as fast as lightning, even Tanxiang almost abandoned her to run away too. Tanxiang hesitated for a few moments before coming back, helping her up, and supporting her as they resumed walking.
The mysterious prolonged crying in the empty courtyard caused Wen Wan to become feverish that very night after returning to her courtyard. Tanxiang had become temporarily muddled-headed from fear and hadn’t done a good job watching over Wen Wan.
By the next day, Wen Wan had already fallen seriously ill.
Marquis Moyu requested an imperial physician to come by to treat Wen Wan. Moreover, he warned the entire household to not spread the news of the haunting outside and only requested the sage monk that the emperor trusted the most to come over and perform a purification ritual.
—
Somehow, the third prince was alerted of this haunting. Feeling bored, he came over to watch the excitement.
Standing in the courtyard, the third prince watched the sage monk perform the ritual and asked Nie Sangyu, “Younger cousin, are you not afraid of this type of thing?”
Ji Man forced herself to smile. “Sangyu does find this type of thing scary. But for every grievance, there is someone responsible. This misfortune and responsibility definitely won’t fall on Sangyu’s head. When Sangyu think of it that way, Sangyu isn’t worried anymore.”
The third prince deeply looked at her before smiling and saying, “You’ve certainly adopted a lighthearted perspective.”
Ji Man was completely focused on watching the expert sage monk in the courtyard, so she didn’t notice the third prince’s expression as he watched her.
After the ritual was over, Marquis Moyu presented offerings to the Buddha statue for Feiyu Courtyard. The sage monk and the third prince stayed in the courtyard, exchanged greetings, and talked for a bit.
Ji Man inadvertently swept her gaze over and felt that these two people looked very familiar.
—
In the evening, Marquis Moyu sent over ten servants to watch Feiyu Courtyard. As expected, the sound of a baby crying didn’t appear that night. It wasn’t clear whether it was because the sage monk’s purification ritual had been effective, or because of the servants guarding Feiyu Courtyard.
—
Wen Wan kept having nightmares. Whenever she woke up, she would be muddle-headed and wouldn’t let Tanxiang attend to her. The people in the residence all felt that she was under some type of evil influence.
Marquis Moyu had a headache from trying to figure out who could attend to Wen Wan. Since she wouldn’t even allow Tanxiang near her, who else would be able to approach her?