Before Eighteenth Lady set her sights on Xu Jichun, she had already been rejected twice in a row.
The first time was half a month ago.
She was sitting in a tree sniffing for yang energy when a man in brocade robes stumbled past below, wiping his face and wailing at the top of his lungs: “Brother, how could you have the heart to leave me behind…”
Eighteenth Lady felt she had a chance. That night, she disguised herself as a man, slipped into the man’s room, and patted him awake. “Hello, younger brother, I’m your elder brother!”
“Dead liar!”
Eighteenth Lady said, “After a person dies, their appearance changes. Little brother, I really am your brother!”
The man replied, “My brother is a dog!”
His elder brother was an eleven-year-old old dog that had been buried just two days prior.
Eighteenth Lady fled in embarrassment.
The second time was ten days ago.
She was sitting cross-legged in a graveyard watching the excitement when she happened to hear a woman kneeling before a solitary soul’s grave, weeping bitterly: “Little sister, how could you bear to leave me…”
Eighteenth Lady felt she had a chance again.
However, just to be safe, she took a special look at the name on the tombstone in front of the grave—
Grave of Shuyu, Second Daughter of the Ruan Clan of Zhougu
Respectfully erected by her elder sister, Qingshang, with washed hands
That night, Eighteenth Lady slipped into the woman’s room and woke her. “Hello, elder sister, I’m your little sister!”
“Dead liar!”
Eighteenth Lady said, “After a person dies, their appearance changes. Elder sister, I really am your little sister!”
The woman replied, “My sister isn’t dead!”
The woman’s sister had feigned death three months ago to escape trouble and had fled to a distant land.
Eighteenth Lady left with a heavy sigh.
She only had one chance left this year to manifest for a ritual solicitation.
Eighteenth Lady wandered the empty, deserted streets of Luojing until dawn.
Finally, she decided to set aside past grudges and go home to ask her rival, Su Yingtang, for some advice.
At the fifth mark of the Hour of the Tiger, the morning bell broke the dawn, and the city gates swung wide.
Eighteenth Lady left the city with a few familiar commoners, walking all the way to the foot of Mount Fu outside the city.
Mount Fu was exactly as its name suggested—a “Floating Mountain.”
Half of it was submerged in clouds and mist, its full appearance hidden throughout the year.
The group walked, chatting and laughing, until they reached the only road-splitting stone tablet on the mountain. The commoners in front suddenly stopped in their tracks.
“Hmph, a bunch of cowards.” Eighteenth Lady was used to this. She reached out to push through the crowd blocking her way and took a large stride, crossing the stone tablet alone.
After that, she vanished into the depths of the mist-shrouded dense forest without looking back.
After she left, a young man with an unfamiliar face was eager to step past the tablet, but an old man beside him grabbed him. “Don’t go running off. This mountain is very eerie.”
The youth didn’t believe in such things. “It’s just a mountain, after all.”
The old man pointed at the tablet. “Take a close look at the words on it.”
Wild wormwood grew thick before the tablet, and moths occasionally circled nearby.
The youth pushed aside the waist-high wormwood. The inscriptions on the tablet were blurred and hard to distinguish, leaving only fragments like “Living Stop” and “No Return.”
“Nine ghosts live inside.”
“Why are you so certain, Uncle?”
“Someone went in before. He was lucky enough to come out, but he went mad.”
“Mad?”
“He would tell everyone he met that there’s a three-story small building in the mountains, with high-upturned eaves at the four corners, and a plaque with the words ‘Fushan Tower’ written in flamboyant calligraphy. There are nine ghosts in the tower, and among them is a female ghost named… Eighteenth Lady.”
The Eighteenth Lady they were discussing was currently standing before a pair of vermilion-lacquered doors, hesitating as she looked around.
Before she left yesterday, she had confidently told Su Yingtang to “wait and see,” yet today she returned home empty-handed. If she entered rashly, she would inevitably be mocked by Su Yingtang’s cronies again.
After debating at the door for half the day, she pushed it open with a sense of resignation.
Sure enough, as soon as she entered the tower, the mockery arrived right on schedule.
“Eighteenth Lady, failed to get any offerings again?”
“A kind sister gave me a beautiful flower.” Eighteenth Lady gave a cold snort, raising her hand to wave the peony she held. “She even promised to give me three big bowls of pig’s trotters in five days.”
As soon as she finished speaking, a roar came from outside: “Which blind dead ghost dared to pluck my peony?!”
Laughter erupted on the second floor. Eighteenth Lady guiltily hurried upstairs, heading straight for Su Yingtang’s room on the third floor.
Before knocking, she first pinched her throat and asked softly, “Sister Mannu, are you there?”
There was no response.
Eighteenth Lady took a deep breath. “Good Mannu, I was wrong.”
A moment later, the tightly closed door opened.
A woman with clouds of hair and a face like a flower stepped out. She leaned against the doorframe with great allure, her chin slightly tilted and a look of disdain on her face. “What are you here for?”
Eighteenth Lady happily pushed her into the room. As soon as the door was closed, she turned around and fell to her knees with a thud. “Master is above, please accept your disciple’s bow!”
“I don’t collect trash.”
“I can help you scold Helan Wang.”
“Fine, deal.”
Helan Wang was the rude stray dog living next door who often barked incessantly.
Su Yingtang prided herself on being dignified and disdained talking back. She was just worrying about not being able to find a helper who wasn’t afraid of death to vent her frustrations. “Speak, what do you want your Master to teach you?”
“Master, please sit down.” Eighteenth Lady respectfully helped her sit on the daybed, but her eyes wandered restlessly, occasionally sighing, “Master, there are so many offerings in your room…”
Unlike her own room, which was empty.
Seeing her drooling, Su Yingtang said wordlessly, “Failed to get offerings again last night?”
Eighteenth Lady replied dully, “That sister didn’t lack ghost sisters, and she refused to provide for me.”
The ghosts in Fushan Tower were all unclaimed solitary souls.
Meng Yingqiu, the Master of the Tower who took them in, had set a rule early on: to live in the tower, one must pay three taels of Nether-wealth every month. Those who couldn’t afford it were only fit for plain porridge and salted vegetables while living in the woodshed.
Nether-wealth came from the offerings provided by mortals.
The eight ghosts had three chances each year to manifest before mortals for ritual solicitation.
If a mortal set up a spirit tablet to provide for them, Fushan Tower would receive offerings.
The more offerings, the more Nether-wealth; naturally, the standard of living would be better.
Su Yingtang and Helan Wang tied for the top of the list every month, living on the third floor with the Master, Meng Yingqiu.
The other five ghosts weren’t as good as the top but were better than the bottom, living on the second floor.
The only ghost who lived on the first floor—and had lived there for eighteen years—was Eighteenth Lady.
Su Yingtang: “Stupid disciple, what do you want me to teach you?”
Eighteenth Lady spoke with great earnestness: “How to perform ritual solicitation under a false name?”
Su Yingtang: “That’s simple. It’s nothing more than the four-word secret: ‘Observation, Listening, Inquiry, and Pulse-taking.'”
Eighteenth Lady was confused. “What do you mean by Observation, Listening, Inquiry, and Pulse-taking?”
Hearing this, Su Yingtang leaned back, reclining lazily on the daybed, her toes occasionally tapping the floor. “With Observation, Listening, Inquiry, and Pulse-taking, the medicine will cure the disease. Clean out your ears and listen closely as your Master explains…”
Observation is for looking—look at their clothes to distinguish the poor from the rich.
Silk-clad merchants, jade-wearing scholars, and Buddhist-worshipping women are the best choices.
Listening is for hearing—hear their complaints to know their urgent needs.
When choosing a target for solicitation, do not be hasty. Listen to the gossip of the marketplace to strike with one blow.
Inquiry is for provoking—provoke their thoughts and attack their hearts.
To use a false name means to impersonate the person they long for but cannot see.
Pulse-taking is for closing—capture their hearts and do not delay.
While they are in the depths of grief, suggest the matter of offerings at the right time. Do not procrastinate.
Eighteenth Lady thought it would be some fresh trick, but in the end, it was just the same set of games Meng Yingqiu lectured them on every year.
Eighteenth Lady pursed her lips, somewhat dissatisfied. “I’ve been honestly following that in past years, but I ended up with nothing.”
Su Yingtang gave a light huff. “If you were truly willing to listen, how could you be at the bottom every year? Take the incident of pretending to be that man’s brother half a month ago—you only heard the man’s wailing, but you didn’t bother to find out who his brother actually was or how he died.”
Eighteenth Lady looked up, wanting to argue.
She had inquired at the teahouse; that man did indeed have an elder brother. The brother and his dog died on the same day. It was said that after the brother died, his heart was cut out—a particularly gruesome death.
But how was she to know that the man wasn’t crying for his brother but for his dog, wasting one of her chances for nothing?
The crabapples outside the window were in full bloom. Su Yingtang counted on her fingers and soon came up with a clever plan: “The results of the palace examination will be posted soon. The inns in the capital are full of greenhorn scholars. They are inexperienced and most easily believe in ghosts and gods.”
“Thank you for your guidance, Master. This disciple will drift over to the inns to have a look.” Eighteenth Lady nodded and thanked her solemnly.
“Before you leave, remember to give Helan Wang a good scolding so I can hear it.” Su Yingtang waved her away, taking the opportunity to demand her tuition.
“Fine.”
Eighteenth Lady scurried next door. After three light coughs, she put her hands on her hips and started shouting: “Helan Wang, don’t hide inside and stay quiet! I know you’re home!”
She came on strong, but unfortunately, the other party’s momentum was even greater.
“Nether-wealth.”
“This little one will get lost right away.”
Helan Wang was her monthly God of Wealth, and Su Yingtang was her newly acknowledged Master.
Choosing between the two, Eighteenth Lady very sensibly shuffled back to Su Yingtang’s door. “Master, my throat is tired today. I’ll stand up for you another day.”
“Get lost.”
“This disciple is getting lost right now.”
Having received Su Yingtang’s pointers, Eighteenth Lady ran straight to the Zhuangyuan Inn—a place frequented by candidates—as soon as she entered the city to stand guard.
After working hard on the roof for three days, she didn’t find a kind-hearted scholar, but she did hear of a strange matter.
The results were posted today. The candidate Xu Jichun, whose policy discourse during the palace examination had deeply impressed the Emperor, had indeed placed third as the Tanhua.
It was said this man was twenty-two years old.
His talent was enough to astound all, and his appearance was like that of a banished immortal.
Eighteenth Lady listened with fascination. Without realizing it, she followed several scholars out and drifted to the Gousheng Inn to see this new Tanhua.
When they arrived, Xu Jichun was draped in red silk with a flower pinned to his head, chatting with others. “Succeeding in the examinations today does not fail my maternal aunt’s deep kindness in raising me. Just now, I wrote a letter home to report the good news, and now I only hope to bring her to the capital early to provide for her.”
A scholar who didn’t know the inside story asked boldly, “Brother Zi’an, I wonder what you mean by ‘maternal aunt’s deep kindness in raising me’?”
Xu Jichun replied, “I lost both parents when I was young and was raised by my maternal aunt.”
“I’ve always been a blunt speaker. I hope you will forgive me, Brother.” So that was it. The scholar slapped his forehead and hurriedly cupped his hands in apology.
“It is no matter, Brother.” Xu Jichun smiled and bowed. “The hour is late, and heart-gouging murders have been frequent in the capital lately. Brothers, please return to your inns quickly. We shall gather again at the Lanting Poetry Society tomorrow morning, how about it?”
Several scholars left together. Xu Jichun sighed dejectedly at the door, talking to himself: “The deep kindness of my father and mother is like the mountains and the sea. Not only does Zi’an not know your names, but I have not repaid you in the slightest. Having luckily passed the exams today, I suppose I have finally lived up to your expectations…”
Twilight fell, and the voices of people gradually thinned.
Luojing slowly submerged into the drowsy darkness of night.
Manager Liang of the Gaosheng Inn, having learned that this year’s Tanhua came from his own inn, had gone out early to buy wine and show off. Now, he approached Xu Jichun with a fawning look: “Lord Tanhua, I have prepared some light wine in your room. I hope you won’t spurn it.”
“Many thanks, Manager.” Xu Jichun thanked him politely as usual.
Amidst Manager Liang’s constant praise, Xu Jichun went upstairs to his room.
Leaving Eighteenth Lady alone on the spot, rubbing her chin as she slowly savored Xu Jichun’s words: “Lost parents when young? Doesn’t know their names?”
Doesn’t that mean…
She could be whoever she said she was?
Opportunity knocks but once.
Eighteenth Lady hesitated again and again before deciding to take a huge gamble.
That night, she drifted into Xu Jichun’s room and waited for the right moment.
The paper window was half-open, and the waning moon was half-dim yet still bright.
Xu Jichun sat at the desk, drinking alone under the moon.
After only three cups, he slumped over the desk, drunk.
A crimson flush bloomed on his face like dawn mist. The half-jar of unfinished wine spilled onto the ground.
As the sound of the fifth watch faded, Eighteenth Lady silently recited a mantra and manifested. She reached out to push him awake. “Hello son, I’m your mother!”