Su Yuan served as a matron beside the mistress of a wealthy household, saving up a considerable sum of money to send her son to study at an academy. Yet, for some unknown reason, ever since he returned two or three days ago, he had been sleeping deeply and could not be awakened no matter how hard she tried.
Over a dozen physicians were consulted, medicine was administered, and acupuncture was performed, but he simply would not wake up.
Her husband suggested that he might have been tainted by something unclean. Just as she was unsure where to find a master, she suddenly remembered Old Mrs. Chen, who lived next door, mentioning that there was a particularly skilled girl on South Street—the one who had predicted her own daughter-in-law’s fall while heavily pregnant.
Recalling this, she decided to give it a try. After all, it was only ten copper coins; if it didn’t work, she could always seek another master.
“Did you bring his birth date and time characters?”
Su Yuan nodded and handed over the red paper with his name and eight characters written on it. “Could you please check if my son is being haunted by something?”
Jing Wu unfolded the red paper, calculated based on the eight characters, and a hint of mockery curled at the corner of her lips.
“He is indeed being haunted—by a ghost who died fifty years ago. However, it was your son who provoked it.”
“What? My son provoked it? That can’t be.” Su Yuan found it hard to believe and asked the person before her, “Could it have been unintentional? My son spends his days either at the academy or sleeping at home. How could he have provoked such things?”
“You and your son are not close, and your meetings are always rushed, aren’t they?” Jing Wu observed the golden merit enveloping her and paused. The mother had performed so many good deeds, yet the son had been secretly committing misdeeds behind the family’s back.
Su Yuan looked embarrassed and nodded. As the mistress’s dowry attendant, almost all matters in the household passed through her hands.
Over the decades, she had been busy every day, only taking two months off after giving birth to her son before returning to the household.
With so many responsibilities, she often couldn’t attend to her son. Each time she returned, she could only give him some silver to buy whatever food or drink he liked.
Seeing her expression, Jing Wu guessed what she was thinking and spoke up.
“Du Nanze did not provoke it unintentionally. He has been secretly indulging in brothels, spending the family’s money there for pleasure every day. Three days ago, he got drunk and took a courtesan named Liu Youyao into the mountains, where they engaged in intimate acts atop a grave. After sobering up, he even spoke arrogantly, angering the tomb’s owner. Now, the tomb’s owner is teaching him a lesson in his dreams.”
“What?” Hearing this, Su Yuan recalled the few times her son had carried the scent of women’s cosmetics. When she asked him about it, he only said that a classmate liked cosmetics and he had picked up the scent.
At the time, she was too busy rushing back to the household to handle matters and didn’t think much of it. In the end, she had neglected her son.
Her hands unconsciously tightened on the hem of her clothes as she trembled and looked at the clear-eyed girl before her. “Is… is this true?”
Jing Wu met her gaze and nodded, pursing her lips before speaking. “The tomb’s owner won’t take his life. Once the anger is vented, he will naturally wake up.”
She truly didn’t want to involve herself in this matter. After all, it was Du Nanze who had acted so recklessly at the grave, disturbing the peace of the deceased. He deserved to pay some price.
Su Yuan grew anxious upon hearing this and immediately asked, “How long will it take for him to wake up?”
“It’s hard to say, it depends on when your son admits his mistake.” Jing Wu glanced at the birth characters written on the red paper, then looked up at the person before her. “But judging from the divination signs, your son is extremely stubborn and refuses to admit his mistake.”
Su Yuan took a deep breath upon hearing this, her heart filled with anxiety. “Master, is there no other way?”
Jing Wu thought for a moment, considering the merit on her, then took out a ghost-repelling talisman from her bag. “Place this Talisman Paper under your son’s pillow. He will wake up tomorrow. After he wakes up, prepare incense, candles, and paper money, and take him to the grave to apologize. If the tomb’s owner no longer appears in his dreams that day, the matter will be over. If they still appear, continue to apologize.”
Su Yuan took the talisman and nodded repeatedly. “I will definitely do as you say.”
“This talisman costs one hundred wen.”
Su Yuan immediately took out the money from her purse and placed it on the table. “Thank you, thank you, Master.”
Jing Wu gave a slight nod, watching her retreating figure as she stretched lazily.
There were no destined individuals today, so it was time to pack up and go home.
She stood up, glanced at the murmuring crowd gathered around, but paid it no mind. Seeing that Shao Che had also sold all his sweet potatoes, she helped him return the tables and chairs to the steamed bun shop before packing up and heading home.
At the Shen residence, Shen Yulan’s mother went to see Master Shen early in the morning and recounted everything about her daughter in detail.
The Shen family sent someone to Chen Village to investigate and found that everything was exactly as Jing Wu had said.
That Chen Sheng indeed had both parents, was already married, and even had a son and a daughter. The money for his studies in town was not pooled together by the villagers but was subsidized by his wife using her own Dowry.
When Master Shen heard the servant’s report, he was immediately enraged and ordered the Butler to take people to capture Chen Sheng.
When Shen Yulan heard this, her eyes reddened from crying. She felt angry but also grateful that she had listened to Jing’er and hadn’t eloped with Chen Sheng yesterday. Returning to her room, she asked Jing’er to take ten taels of silver to thank Jing Wu.
When Jing’er arrived at South Street with the silver, Jing Wu had already packed up and gone home, so she had no choice but to return to the residence first.
Meanwhile, after Su Yuan returned home, she immediately placed the talisman under her son’s pillow. After explaining the situation to her husband and instructing him to keep an eye on their son, she headed to the academy to gather information.
She lingered outside the academy and randomly stopped a young man leaving the premises. “Young master, could you help me find Du Nanze?”
“Du Nanze?” The man looked her up and down. Though she was somewhat older, her face was still lovely, so he chuckled lightly. “If you’re looking for him, you’ve come to the wrong place. You should go to the brothel.”
Su Yuan’s heart trembled at these words, but she pressed on. “Does he often go to the brothel?”
“Yes, that guy barely attends classes. He spends every day lounging in the brothel. If it weren’t for his mother working as a maid in the magistrate’s residence and the magistrate’s eldest son willing to cover for him, the academy would have expelled him long ago. A few days ago, he even took a brothel girl to a grave to do… that kind of thing.” The man’s expression was mocking, his tone filled with disdain.
Su Yuan frowned deeply, a sense of foreboding rising in her heart. “How do you know this?”
“He said it himself. The whole academy knows.” The man glanced at the sky, seeing it was getting late, and hurriedly walked away, muttering under his breath as he went. “Du Nanze’s taste is getting worse and worse. How can he even consider someone this old?”
Hearing these words, Su Yuan felt a sharp, throbbing pain in her heart. This wretched son of hers had done such disgraceful things without showing any remorse, and now he was even bragging about them everywhere.
She stood at the entrance of the academy for a long time before finally trudging back home, her steps heavy and uneven.
As soon as she entered the door, she saw Du Nanze awake, sitting on the bed and looking at her. His face was still pale, and he called out obediently, “Mother.”
Su Yuan was seething with anger at that moment. She stepped forward and slapped him across the face.
“Mother, what are you doing?” Du Nanze immediately jumped up from the bed, still unaware that his parents already knew everything.
“What am I doing? Why don’t you think about what you’ve done?” Su Yuan picked up a nearby stick and pointed it at him. “I gave you money so you could study, not so you could visit brothels!”
Upon hearing this, Du Nanze knew things had taken a turn for the worse. He immediately tried to say something, but the blows from the stick left him speechless.
“You visit brothels, you neglect your duties, you even go to someone’s grave and cause trouble, you…” Su Yuan struck him with the stick, her heart aching with fury.
“How did you know?”