“Son, your father is here to save you!”…
Eighteenth Lady lowered her head, her fingers twisting the ties of the pouch hanging at her waist.
Tears pattered onto the floor, gradually forming a damp outline invisible to mortal eyes.
Xu Jichun was clever—she feared he had already guessed she was not his birth mother.
She had struggled for eighteen years, finally managing to receive offerings. She didn’t want to return to the days of being mocked daily by Moyu’er and Su Yingtang, or borrowing Nether-wealth from Helan Wang month after month.
On the way back, she had thought of countless excuses, finally settling on a flawless story to deceive Xu Jichun.
But Lu Xiuyan kept asking questions, and she gradually lost the confidence to lie.
Seeing her shoulders tremble slightly, Lu Xiuyan dared not press further. He hurriedly rolled into bed, pulled the covers over his head, and fell asleep.
Soon, his breathing steadied, as if he had drifted into a deep slumber.
Xu Jichun deliberately stepped closer to take a look and, noticing the curve of his lips, teased, “Seems like a pleasant dream.”
Eighteenth Lady raised her head slightly and murmured, “Zi’an, I’m sorry. Helan Wang is not your birth father.”
Shifting his gaze from Lu Xiuyan’s face to Eighteenth Lady, whose eyes were reddened at the corners, Xu Jichun smiled candidly. “I know he isn’t my birth father, and I know you lied to spare me pain.”
Eighteenth Lady hung her head dejectedly. “You’ve guessed everything, haven’t you?”
“Guessed what?” Xu Jichun showed a hint of confusion. “Eighteenth Lady, even if he isn’t my birth father, you are my birth mother. I won’t deny you.”
On the bed, Lu Xiuyan suddenly turned over, making quite a commotion.
Both human and Ghost turned to look at him. Xu Jichun yawned repeatedly. “Will you return tonight?”
Eighteenth Lady shook her head. “I’m afraid of the dark. I usually don’t go back to Fúshān Tower at night.”
Xu Jichun pulled the blanket covering Lu Xiuyan and spread it on the floor. “Young Master Lu is delicate and can’t sleep on the floor. I’m afraid you’ll have to make do with the blanket. I’ll sleep on the floor beside you. How does that sound?”
Eighteenth Lady lay down on the spot. “I’m a Ghost. I don’t need a blanket.”
Xu Jichun insisted, moving the blanket beneath her. “Be good.”
Eighteenth Lady shifted her body and lay on the blanket.
Xu Jichun lay down in his clothes to her left, leaving a half-step distance between the human and the Ghost.
Though having a blanket beneath her made no difference to a Ghost, at that moment, Eighteenth Lady inexplicably felt enveloped in a warmth.
“Zi’an, how did you know Helan Wang isn’t your birth father?”
“He’s too handsome. I guessed Mother… prefers men with a more rugged appearance.”
Eighteenth Lady happily agreed. “Yes, yes, yes.”
Xu Jichun turned his back to her, unable to suppress a chuckle. “Sleep now. I still have to wake up early to buy pig trotters as offerings for you.”
“Zi’an, I’m asleep.”
“…”
When Eighteenth Lady opened her eyes again, only she and Lu Xiuyan remained in the room, staring at each other.
Noticing Lu Xiuyan stealing curious glances at her from time to time, she walked over and sat beside him. “Do you really know me?”
To her surprise, Lu Xiuyan, who had insisted the day before that he recognized her, now flatly denied it. “No.”
Eighteenth Lady muttered, “Strange. Could there really be another Ghost with the same name?”
Lu Xiuyan cautiously asked, “I’ve heard Ghosts are most in need of offerings. Are you lacking?”
Eighteenth Lady swung her legs. “I used to be, but not anymore.”
Lu Xiuyan spoke earnestly. “I’m particularly wealthy and don’t know where to spend it. How about I burn a chest of spirit ingots for you every day? Consider it accumulating merit for myself.”
Money is truly wonderful.
Eighteenth Lady thought with a pang of bitterness.
Money can make ghosts turn millstones, and even allow one to burn a chest of spirit ingots every day.
Unlike her, who was penniless in life and couldn’t even receive offerings after death.
However, regarding Lu Xiuyan’s kind proposal.
She thought it over and still refused: “Even if you burn them for me, it’s useless. I won’t receive them.”
Ghosts of Fúshān Tower can only accept offerings from their own Offerors; all others are unreceivable.
“What if I ask Brother Zi’an to burn them for me?”
“That should work, right?”
Xu Jichun entered the room carrying a food box, just in time to see one person and one ghost sitting by the bed, whispering.
As soon as she saw him, Eighteenth Lady jumped in front of him, beaming with joy: “Zi’an, Third Young Master Lu has money to burn and is willing to offer a chest of spirit ingots to me every day. But he’s not my relative, so his offerings won’t reach me. So…”
“So you need me to offer them in my name?”
“Exactly!”
Xu Jichun set down the food box and motioned for Lu Xiuyan to sit: “When will Third Young Master Lu hand over the spirit ingots to me?”
“I’ll have someone deliver them tonight,” Lu Xiuyan sat down beside him, a smile curling at his lips. “Eighteenth Lady, Zi’an, since we’ve become acquainted, calling me Third Young Master Lu feels too distant! My courtesy name is Mingye. Just call me Mingye.”
His tone carried an inexplicable sense of affection.
Xu Jichun’s hand, holding the porridge bowl, froze mid-air. He turned to stare at Lu Xiuyan’s odd expression: “I’ll thank Mingye on behalf of Eighteenth Lady in advance.”
“Of course, of course.”
Lu Xiuyan smiled, his eyes crinkling.
Eighteenth Lady closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, the savory aroma of braised pork knuckle wafting from the table filling her with contentment.
When she returned home today, she would be able to eat three full bowls.
How wonderful it is to have someone offering to you.
No wonder the other seven ghosts spent all day seeking ritual solicitations without including her.
As the two were having breakfast, Shu Chi arrived and sat squarely in Eighteenth Lady’s chair.
Eighteenth Lady was squeezed out of the chair and had to float over to Xu Jichun’s side to continue savoring the aroma of the meat.
As soon as Shu Chi sat down, he looked up and met Lu Xiuyan’s resentful gaze, which was fixed intently on him.
Confused, he asked with concern: “Third Young Master Lu, did you not sleep well?”
“Not at all!” Lu Xiuyan buried his head in his porridge.
By the time they finished breakfast, it was already a quarter past seven. Eighteenth Lady led the way, while Xu Jichun guided the other two from behind.
After walking for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, Eighteenth Lady stopped in front of a small house.
Xu Jichun understood and stepped forward to knock. Shortly after, the courtyard gate opened: “Who are you looking for?”
“Are you Lady Ruan?”
“Yes.”
But as soon as Ruan Qingshang learned the purpose of their visit, she immediately shut the gate.
No matter how much the three pleaded outside for half a day, she remained unmoved.
Outside the courtyard, Xu Jichun pleaded until his voice grew hoarse. Inside, Ruan Qingshang sat alone under the eaves, weeping. Eighteenth Lady, floating back and forth between the two, grew frantic with worry.
Finally, Xu Jichun called the other two away dejectedly: “Let’s go. She has her reasons.”
The murderer was in the shadows, while they were in the light.
If the murderer learned that Ruan Shuyu was still alive, they would surely act quickly to eliminate her.
Neither they nor the authorities could guarantee Ruan Shuyu’s safety.
She had already “died” once; he didn’t want her to die again.
The three had walked a long way before Eighteenth Lady floated over, panting: “Zi’an, hurry back. She’s willing to talk now.”
Xu Jichun returned to the Ruan residence, half-doubting and half-believing.
As Eighteenth Lady had said, the gate of the Ruan house was wide open, with Ruan Qingshang standing at the entrance: “Come in and talk.”
The gate opened and closed.
Ruan Qingshang spoke: “Just now, my younger sister’s Ancestral Tablet suddenly fell to the ground. I suspect she may have something to say to you.”
Looking past Ruan Qingshang’s helpless figure, Xu Jichun gazed at the solitary Ancestral Tablet in the main hall.
After a long silence, he finally said: “Miss Ruan, our purpose here is not to find your sister, but only to learn whether on the day she was injured, she saw the murderer or discovered any other clues?”
Even after more than three months, Ruan Qingshang still vividly remembered the tragic state her sister Ruan Shuyu was in when she returned home that day.
Her head was bleeding, and the knife wound on her neck was so deep the bone was visible.
Clutching her neck tightly, she stumbled home. Her plain dress was covered in splotches of blood.
“After I reported it to the authorities, officials came to question me,” Ruan Qingshang said, wiping her tears haphazardly with her sleeve. “After they left, my sister finally woke up, but she told me in terror: ‘Don’t report it to the authorities.'”
Only after Ruan Qingshang pressed her did she learn that the person who injured her sister was a man wearing official robes.
Moreover, this man held a high-ranking position.
They were orphaned girls, insignificant ants that no one cared about, utterly incapable of provoking a high official.
For her sister to survive, she had no choice but to send her away from the capital overnight to avoid disaster.
Xu Jichun asked: “Did your sister get a clear look at the murderer’s face?”
Ruan Qingshang shook her head: “It was already dark at the time, and the murderer ambushed her in a dark alley, so she didn’t see his face clearly.”
Lu Xiuyan asked curiously: “If she didn’t know the murderer, how did she know he was a high official?”
“My sister and I are embroiderers. Occasionally, we mend official robes for officials in the city. When my sister fell that day, she saw the murderer wearing crimson robes, which should indicate a fourth or fifth-rank official.” Ruan Qingshang pointed to the color of his robe.
Xu Jichun carefully recalled all the Ministry of Rites officials he had seen on the day of the palace examination: one vice minister wore deep crimson, and the directors of the four bureaus wore light crimson.
In the Ministry of Rites, only five people could wear crimson official robes.
Xu Jichun called the other two and Eighteenth Lady: “Quick, let’s go. The murderer might be among these five.”
The three of them rushed out the door, but from behind, Ruan Qingshang urgently called out again: “Wait, there’s one more thing.”
“What is it?”
“My sister said the murderer originally intended to cut out her heart, but before he could act, another man looked down on her for being a woman and didn’t want her heart.””
“Come with us to see Lord Wu. He will protect you.” Knowing that Ruan Qingshang was aware of too many secrets, Xu Jichun feared she might be targeted by the murderer for revenge, so he simply pulled her along.
At the Ministry of Justice office, Wu Feijue learned the whole story.
After pondering deeply with his hands behind his back for a long time, he summoned an attendant: “Quickly invite the Vice Minister of Rites and the four bureau directors to come here for a discussion. Inform them that I have important matters to discuss.”
Five attendants bowed and left. Wu Feijue pointed at Lu Xiuyan: “Mingye, take Miss Ruan back to the Duke’s residence to stay for a few days. If your mother asks, just say it was my idea.”
Lu Xiuyan said irritably: “Mother never interferes with my affairs. But what if Grandfather asks? How should I answer?”
Wu Feijue: “Don’t worry, Grand Preceptor Lu is not home these few days.”
“Alright then.”
“Zi’an, see you tomorrow.” At White Horse Bridge, Lu Xiuyan reluctantly parted ways with Xu Jichun. The moment he turned around, he added another sentence in his heart, “Eighteenth Lady, see you tomorrow.”
Xu Jichun and Shu Chi walked away side by side, with Eighteenth Lady muttering between them: “Today I put all my effort into bumping that Ancestral Tablet, and it indeed made her change her mind.”
If not for missing her sister so deeply, why would Ruan Qingshang weep sorrowfully every day by Ruan Shuyu’s lonely grave?
As long as they caught the murderer, Ruan Shuyu could return home.
Eighteenth Lady thought that Ruan Qingshang was probably also searching for a way to reunite safely with her younger sister.
She continued speaking, completely unaware that Shu Chi had long since vanished without a trace.
When she finally stopped, satisfied, Xu Jichun softly thanked her: “Eighteenth Lady, thank you.”
“You help me, I help you—we’re even.” Receiving gratitude from a mortal for the first time, Eighteenth Lady blushed and looked toward the distant city gate. “Zi’an, see you tomorrow. I must go home.”
“Alright, see you tomorrow.”
Thinking of the pork trotters in her room, fragrant with meaty aroma, Eighteenth Lady walked faster and faster, growing more and more delighted.
But when she reached the city gate, she suddenly stopped again: “Strange, did someone seem to be following Zi’an just now?”
Eighteenth Lady turned to look back, but in the vast sea of people in the distance, there was no longer any sign of Xu Jichun.
An intense unease surged within her, and she turned around to retrace her steps in search of him.
Passing by a dark alley in the Cultivation Quarter, she heard a short, sharp gasp.
Following the sound, she ran over and saw Xu Jichun cornered against a wall by a masked man holding a knife.
Unable to suppress a sob, she desperately positioned herself in front of Xu Jichun, trying to push back against the figure that loomed over him like a mountain, step by relentless step.
Unfortunately, she was a Ghost.
Everything she did was nothing but a futile struggle.
A cold gleam of the blade flashed, aimed directly at the vital point of Xu Jichun’s throat.
Xu Jichun clutched his injured arm, beads of sweat the size of beans rolling down his forehead.
At the moment when his life hung by a thread, he heard a voice from above—
“Son, your father is here to save you!”
Author’s Note:
Lu San: Those pretending to sleep really can hear secrets [perked-up rabbit ears emoji]