"I'm tired, Your Highness, I'll leave everything to you." Consort He instructed her maid to lower the heated curtains, and the candlelight inside flickered briefly before relighting. Standing at the doorway, I felt a chilly, fragrant breeze. The maid hurriedly closed the window, fearing the Consort might catch a cold. Yan Min and I retreated from the room for a while, preoccupied with counting the bluestone steps beneath our feet.
"What are you thinking about?" Prince Yanmin asked.
"I'm thinking, what a persistent ghost," I chuckled. "Your Highness, enjoy the show. Tomorrow night, I'll make that ghost show itself."
I left a bewildered Prince Yanmin and returned to the courtyard. It seemed Miss Bai had already left that night; the lanterns under the eaves were still lit, and Xi'er had probably gone back to the servants' quarters, unable to stay awake any longer. Dugu Leng's figure was reflected in the window. Hearing light footsteps, he turned his face slightly and then focused intently on his book. I pushed open the door; he was only wearing his undergarments and was preparing to rest.
"Did you hear the commotion inside the manor just now?"
"Is it haunted again?" Lonely Leng said, still looking at his book. "The appearance of Meixiang's ghost in Jin Hong Courtyard is probably just a prelude. The real purpose is probably for Consort He to see a ghost in Hexiang Garden today, right?"
"Oh? What did you find out?" I immediately became interested and sat down at the table to pour myself a cup of tea to soothe my throat.
"It seems that besides this matter, there's nothing else that can make you stay under the same roof with me in peace." Dugu Leng's eyes suddenly filled with melancholy, making me feel uneasy. What I wanted to tell him certainly wasn't just this troublesome matter, but he wouldn't understand my feelings. Just as I was about to speak, a few more frivolous smiles appeared on his face, and the words I was about to say immediately stuck in my throat. I lowered my head and sighed.
He said self-deprecatingly, "We were husband and wife after all. Let's part amicably. As long as you are happy, I will immediately draft a letter of divorce, and from then on you will no longer have to care about me."
My heart felt like it was being pierced by needles. Although I had imagined this scene countless times, when the day actually came, my heart was shattered, and the pain was as intense as a peach blossom withering. I smiled nonchalantly and said, "Very well, then. You should draft the divorce papers as soon as possible, and let's put an end to this wrong marriage between us."
Dugu Leng's smile was even more captivating, like the intoxicating moonlight outside the window, spreading across the ground like shattered silver, so beautiful that it made one feel that all the beautiful moments were in vain. My tears almost spilled out, but I could only let them dry quietly in the shadows. I couldn't cry, I couldn't give in, at least in Dugu Leng's heart, Liu Ruyan had left him with immense joy, and this would fill his life with regret.
If you can't make a man's life complete, then leave him with regrets. That way, he'll remember you for a lifetime, and when he looks back, he'll inevitably sigh with emotion.
5
The sorcerer invited by Princess Zhu arrived at the palace early in the morning and set up an altar in the back garden, with chickens, ducks, fish, and pigs filling the incense table. The sorcerer rang a bell and walked around the garden, chanting incantations for a long time. Then, he used his long sword to pick up a piece of yellow paper and shouted, "Beast, show yourself and surrender!" He then suddenly spat out a mouthful of water onto the yellow paper, and a ghostly human figure appeared.
The maids and attendants gasped in surprise, and one of the maids exclaimed, "That's right, it really is Meixiang's appearance!"
Princess Zhu smiled broadly and said to the Imperial Concubine, "Your Highness, look, the ghost has been captured by Master Jishan. We can now sleep peacefully without worry."
Consort He covered her mouth and nodded in satisfaction, saying, "This sorcerer is indeed powerful. Guards, reward him handsomely."
Prince Yan Min stared wide-eyed in surprise, saying, "Ruyan, now we can sleep soundly without worry." I merely chuckled inwardly, not revealing the truth. These were just some江湖 (jianghu, the martial arts world) tricks, nothing special; it's just that these wealthy officials who didn't frequent the jianghu had never seen anything like them before. The sorcerer's pretense of performing a ritual to release the souls of the dead was merely to put everyone's minds at ease.
As the saying goes, when a person dies, it's like a lamp going out; how can their soul return to haunt the dead?
After nightfall, Princess Zhu hosted a banquet for the monks at her residence. These monks, all heavy drinkers, were quite drunk, their faces flushed. Naturally, dancers were present to entertain them. The monks were mesmerized by the whirling dance performed by Ye Bai, and their lecherous behavior, including frequently swallowing saliva, was unbearable even for Prince Yan Min.
I turned to Xi'er and asked, "What time is it now?"
"Miss, it's already past 9 PM."
"Well, it's time to call it a day."
“That’s right,” Xi’er muttered softly. “They don’t look like monks at all. The tofu on that plate was marinated in meat broth, the chicken was stuffed into meatballs, and there were also buns made from beef hind leg. I don’t believe they couldn’t tell the difference. If it weren’t for the fact that they actually caught Mei Xiang’s wronged spirit today, our Empress would definitely have thought they were just freeloaders.”
"A vengeful spirit?" I raised an eyebrow. "Xi'er, how do you know it's a vengeful spirit?"
Xi'er immediately turned pale with panic and said in a flustered manner, "I was just guessing. It must be that Meixiang stole the Empress's jewelry and left the mansion. Someone saw the money and wanted to kill her, so they killed Meixiang."
I nodded and continued drinking. Miss Ye Bai, having had some free time, sat down beside me. Her snow-white skin almost surpassed mine, and the allure in her eyes reflected my youthful innocence. She said, "Seventh Madam, oh no, I suppose I should call you Miss Ruyan now. From the first moment I saw Young Master Dugu, I fell in love with him, and I am deeply grateful that he has not abandoned me and is willing to give Ye Bai a stable place. In any case, I must thank Miss Ruyan for all of this."
My eyes and brows must be filled with dust, making her even more smug. I can't blame her; in matters of the heart, it's all about the winner and the loser, and no matter how unwilling I am, I have to accept it. If I lose to a woman like Ye Bai, I'll accept it too. She understands romance better than I do; she's like the alluring blue lotus on the embroidered screen, while I'm merely the white lotus in Chewan Lake, my immaturity immediately apparent.
“Miss Ye Bai, I am no longer his wife, so you don’t need to say these things to me. Dugu Leng is a good man. If he has made a promise to you, he will definitely treat you well in the future.”
Ye Bai was taken aback by my reaction, his expression faltering slightly before returning to normal. I wasn't so magnanimous as to make peace with my rival. I simply understood that Dugu Leng's heart wasn't with me, so I didn't even have the right to underestimate him.
"A ghost! A ghost!" came the screams of a maid from the princess's bedchamber.
The scream jolted the sorcerers half-awake and disturbed the imperial concubine's peaceful slumber. Prince Yanmin and I rushed to the concubine's palace. The sorcerers kept saying there was nothing to fear, but as soon as they stepped into the palace, all the lights around went out. The leading sorcerer immediately collapsed to his knees.
Seeing this, Prince Yanmin kicked him away and ordered the guards to take them all back to the backyard and tie them up. The Imperial Concubine and Princess Zhu, guarded by the palace's top guards, walked forward step by step.
"Are you human or a ghost? Come out here right now!" Prince Yanmin shouted into the house.
A soft giggle broke the stillness of the night, and the door creaked open as if pushed open by an invisible hand. Princess Zhu looked around, her face ashen. Prince Yanmin shouted, "Protect the Imperial Concubine and Princess Zhu!"
"Who are you? Are you human or a ghost?" I shouted around. "What is your purpose in scaring people in the middle of the night time and time again?"
A woman in white, her long hair obscuring her face, and bloodstains on her sleeves, appeared eerily creeping out of the room. Her voice, mournful and chilling, echoed from the depths of hell: "Waaah, where are my hands? Where have you hidden them?"
"You are..." I said, my eyes wide, "You are Yingchun, the young lady from Jinxiu Yuanyangfang!"
"Waaaaah, where are my hands?"
Consort He mustered her courage and asked, "Are you Miss Yingchun? Do you know where all the blue lotus flowers you embroidered have gone?"
“Blue lotus…my blue lotus…” Yingchun stretched out her empty sleeve and pointed in our direction, saying, “She has my blue lotus, the last blue lotus I embroidered.”
Princess Zhu's legs buckled, and she knelt on the ground with a thud. Her mind was on the verge of collapse, held together only by a sliver of reason. She covered her ears and cried, "I didn't kill her! I didn't kill her! I only asked her to embroider the blue lotus screen, I didn't kill her..."
"You killed me. Where is my hand?"
“I didn’t kill you. I took the embroidery and left that night. You died the next day. I don’t know who killed you. I don’t know, I really don’t know!” Princess Zhu fell to her knees at Prince Yan Min’s feet, clinging to his legs and crying, “Your Highness, save me, please save me!”
"Why did you ask Yingchun to embroider blue lotus flowers?" I pressed on.
"I only asked her to embroider an identical blue lotus screen. I didn't kill her, I didn't kill anyone!" Princess Zhu cried uncontrollably. Under such circumstances, I believed Princess Zhu would never lie. I walked towards the door, and Yingchun was holding the blue lotus embroidery in her empty wrist.
Prince Yan Min cried out in alarm, "Ruyan, be careful!"
I smiled slightly, took a few steps over, and pulled Yingchun down to kneel, saying, "Ruyan is so eager to solve the case that she may have disturbed the Imperial Concubine. Please forgive her." Yingchun's severed hand emerged from her long sleeve, gathering her disheveled hair behind her head to reveal a delicate face. Dugu Leng jumped down from the eaves.
Shen Suxin respectfully kowtowed and said, "I am Shen Suxin, a constable from the Jianghu, and I pay my respects to Your Highness, the Imperial Concubine."
"You...you all..." Princess Zhu couldn't process the situation before her, but being as clever as she was, she easily realized she had been set up. Her voice trembled slightly with anger, "You actually dared to play tricks at Prince Yan's residence and even disturbed the Imperial Concubine! You are simply audacious! Liu Ruyan, I've been so good to you...you are simply..."
Consort He glared at Princess Zhu with displeasure and said, "Shen Suxin, have you found out the whereabouts of my Blue Lotus Embroidered Screen?"
Shen Suxin nodded and said, "Your Majesty may have heard that after Yingchun from Jinxiu Yuanyang Workshop was dismembered, all the blue lotus embroidery items disappeared, including the blue lotus embroidered screen for the lady of the manor. Half a month before her death, she went to Dugu Cloth Shop to buy a batch of expensive silk for making screens. You should know that Jinxiu Yuanyang Workshop's accounts are very clear, except for the account for this silk. Moreover, for a period of time after she bought this silk, she was embroidering this blue lotus embroidered screen, until the night she died, when Princess Zhu personally went to collect the embroidery."
"Princess Zhu, what are you doing embroidering the blue lotus screen?" Consort He asked curiously.
Princess Zhu was even more panicked: "That's because the blue lotus embroidered screen that the Imperial Concubine loved most was lost the day after it arrived at the mansion. I thought that since the screen was made by Miss Yingchun a few years ago, why not have her make another one? However, this is definitely not the original item, so I asked her to keep it a secret and not to reveal it, lest the Imperial Concubine find out and blame me."
“That’s the strange thing,” I said, picking up the thread. “Since Miss Yingchun bought the silk to embroider the screen half a month ago, and the Imperial Concubine’s blue lotus embroidered screen only arrived at the Prince’s residence seven days later, how did you have a copy of the design to take to Miss Yingchun after it was lost the next day? Did she have some kind of premonition? Your Highness, you’d better tell the truth.”
“How would I know?” Princess Zhu became excited. “Perhaps she just liked embroidering blue lotus flowers. I memorized the design after seeing it once, which is why I had the painter copy it according to my instructions.”
“That’s how it is.” I nodded and said, “Now that you have the blue lotus embroidery, you only need to find a craftsman to make it into a screen and send it to the Lotus Fragrance Garden. Why do you keep it in your junk box?”
"How dare you search my things!" Princess Zhu's face had turned a deep purplish-red, her eyes filled with immense anger and fear. She said, "That's because all of Yingchun's blue lotus embroidery pieces are missing. If I produce that embroidery, then all the suspicion will fall on me. Besides, I did see her the night she died. The Imperial Concubine is at the residence; I cannot let things escalate."
Princess He also became agitated: "Ruyan, did Princess Zhu kill Yingchun? I admired her embroidery even before I entered the palace. If such a thing is true, I will definitely seek justice for her!"
“No.” I shook my head. “Princess Zhu did not kill Yingchun. If Ruyan’s guess is correct, someone is trying to frame Princess Zhu. If the princess does not tell the truth about that night, she may not be able to clear her name.”
Princess Zhu's expression hardened as she said, "I did not kill anyone, and I have told you everything that happened that night. I beg Your Highness to seek justice for Zhu Shuang!"
Consort He sighed and said, "Forget it. Princess Zhu is the prime suspect now. If she really knows the truth of that night, she will definitely tell the whole story to clear her name. I also think that the Princess is Prince Zhu's daughter, and she only knows how to play the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting. How could she dare to kill someone?"
It was past midnight, and Consort He was probably exhausted. Prince Yanmin ordered his guards to hand over the charlatan sorcerers to the authorities. Consort He suddenly turned to me and said, "By the way, the ghost the sorcerers caught today seemed to be named Meixiang, not Yingchun. So it can't be considered a fraud, right?"
I shook my head and said, "Does Your Highness mind if Ruyan leads everyone to your Lotus Fragrance Garden?"
"Oh? What's so special about me?"
"Your Highness will know when you get there." I led the bewildered group to the Lotus Fragrance Garden. The room was lit, and the intoxicating fragrance of flowers filled the air as soon as the door was opened. Several maids were dozing with their heads down, not even hearing the door open. Suddenly, the window beside the bed curtains was blown open by the wind, and the candles on the table went out. A white-clad ghostly figure, like a phantom, spun around and floated into the room, standing beside the bed. Shen Suxin suddenly screamed, startling the maids awake. Seeing the ghostly figure, they screamed as well. They didn't dare look a second time, and the ghostly figure easily vaulted out the window.
Shen Suxin went inside and lit red candles. When the maids saw the group of people standing at the door, they all knelt down in shock.
"So that's how it is." Consort He's face showed a look of sudden realization. "Ruyan, how did you discover that this ghost wasn't actually a person in disguise?"
"Your Majesty is exceptionally intelligent; a single demonstration is enough for you to understand. Last night, Your Majesty encountered a ghost in your room, so I rushed there. First, the window beside the bed was deliberately opened low and wide by the craftsmen for easy viewing of the flowers. During the day, the window is usually open, but in the cool of the evening, the maids would naturally close it. Last night, I also noticed that the window latch was broken, yet the maid still tried to tighten it in the same order as when closing the window—it was just a subconscious action. Only after discovering the broken latch did she find an inkstone to block it, indicating that the latch was intact before she closed the window last time. On my way back to the room, I deliberately passed by the window and noticed some damp soil on the windowsill. There's a large flower bed in front of the window, which the maids water daily. It hasn't rained for the past few days, yet the soil in the flower bed is damp. So I searched among the flowers and, sure enough, found a series of unusually clear footprints."
"What a useless bunch! They didn't even know someone had entered the room. According to Ruyan, that ghost was a person in disguise. Who in the Prince's mansion is so bold?" Consort He was almost furious, but I quickly advised her, "Your Highness, please don't be angry yet. It's not too late to get angry after Ruyan has finished speaking."
"Ruyan, please continue."
"Yes. It's not that Your Highness's maids are useless; the problem lies with that incense burner."
Prince Yan Min gasped: "An incense burner?"
"Yes, the fuel in the incense burner is a kind of herbal incense. I have been extremely sensitive to fragrances since I was a child. There are two kinds of fragrances in this room, and I can see two kinds of incense next to the incense burner. If I'm not mistaken, the maids burn sandalwood during the day and herbal incense at night. This herbal incense is originally meant to help people sleep, but the villains have mixed in a small amount of sleeping potion. That's why the maids sleep so soundly, and only loud screams can wake them up."
"Then why did I sleep so lightly?" Consort He asked, not without surprise. "I've always been a heavy sleeper, but last night I slept very lightly."
"That's because there's an antidote on the Princess's pillow. I found white powder in her hair last night, so the antidote must have been applied to her pillow. If Ruyan's guess is correct, there must be a sworn enemy of the Prince Yan's mansion in this palace, plotting to bring the Prince Yan's mansion to ruin. So Your Highness, please don't get angry, otherwise you'll fall into the villain's trap. We should have the guards find the dancer Meixiang tonight."
Princess Zhu cried out in alarm, "Isn't she dead?"
I scoffed, "If she were dead, how could she have sneaked into the Imperial Concubine's room last night? If I'm not mistaken, she must be in the Jin Hong Courtyard. Now that her ghost is haunting us, no one dares to go near there."
6
Mei Xiang was still asleep when she was captured; she hadn't left her room in Jin Hong Courtyard. She was indeed beautiful, but lacked a certain radiance, kneeling trembling before Consort He. This night would likely keep many awake; even those not in He Xiang Garden would find it difficult to sleep peacefully.
After Dugu Leng finished demonstrating the ghost story, he went to the front hall, where Mei Xiang was also brought over by a guard.
She kowtowed repeatedly and said in a coquettish voice, "Your Highness, spare me! Your Highness, spare me!"
Consort He laughed instead: "This ghost is really handsome and lifelike. It can talk and sleep. It seems there's nothing to be afraid of. Let me ask you, why did you pretend to be a ghost to scare me? You have committed a capital offense. If you don't confess honestly, you will be executed by slow slicing."
"Meixiang knows that she will tell you everything."
"Who ordered you to dress up as a ghost to scare me?"
"It's...it's Princess Consort Zhu..."
"Meixiang, you're talking nonsense!" Princess Zhu's face turned pale. "Who exactly is instigating you? If you don't tell the truth, I won't let you off the hook."
"Shut up!" Consort He glared at her. Princess Zhu naturally held a certain status, as her father was the Emperor's most favored prince, so even a Consort had to give her some leeway. However, she was, after all, the Emperor's woman, a Consort, second only to the Emperor, and probably someone Consort He couldn't afford to offend. Under these circumstances, not punishing her was already a lenient act out of respect for the old prince; openly threatening Mei Xiang like this would only make Consort He even more disgusted.
Princess Zhu immediately dared not interrupt, and could only tightly grasp Prince Yanmin's sleeve. Although Prince Yanmin was amorous, he also doted on Princess Zhu, and could only hope that she wouldn't make too drastic a mistake in this situation.
Seeing this, Meixiang mustered her courage and said, "Meixiang was originally a dancer in the manor, and was usually favored by the Prince. That day, I was hungry in the afternoon and went to the kitchen to find something to eat. I happened to see Xi'er, Miss Ruyan's maid, cooking bird's nest and placing it on the stove. The cook asked her to fetch firewood, so she left. Meixiang was greedy, so she took it back to her room in Jin Hong Courtyard. Who knew... who knew that the bowl of bird's nest was poisoned... After eating it, I suffered unbearable abdominal cramps and fainted. When I woke up, it was completely dark. I was in a carriage, and probably because not much poison was put in, I vomited some out due to the bumpy ride. Xi'er was very frightened when she saw me wake up, but she only received orders to bury my body." So she ordered the coachman to watch over me while she returned to her residence to report to Princess Zhu. I thought the princess would kill me to silence me, but surprisingly, Princess Zhu ordered Xi'er to take me back to her residence. Once back at her residence, I learned that they had already told everyone I had stolen her jewelry and escaped. Princess Zhu told me that unless I cooperated with her, I would have to die.
“She’s lying…” Princess Zhu said bitterly.
Meixiang glanced timidly at Princess Zhu, then continued, "The princess had me pretend to be a ghost in Jinhong Courtyard, which indeed terrified the dancers, making them think that I was dead and my ghost had returned. With this foundation, it wouldn't be so abrupt to pretend to be a ghost in the Imperial Concubine's palace, and it would be more believable."
"Why did Princess Zhu send you to scare me? What is her purpose? What benefit does this bring her?" Consort He's fingers trembled slightly with anger.
"The Princess Consort said that if Consort He is frightened in the mansion, she will blame the Prince, and then the Emperor will hold the Prince accountable. But since she is the daughter of Prince Zhu, the Emperor will naturally turn a blind eye to her."
Prince Yanmin nearly lost his footing, while Princess Zhu gazed at him with tearful eyes, no longer defending herself. At this moment, Princess Zhu finally seemed like a woman, a woman of flesh and blood, not a sharp-tongued, jealous woman. Prince Yanmin's eyes roared like a wounded lion as he demanded, "I don't believe it! Why would she do this! If you can't give me a proper explanation, I'll kill you right now!"
Meixiang collapsed to the ground in terror, her voice as faint as a withered leaf in the wind: "What I said is all true, Your Highness. Don't you understand? Although Xi'er is Miss Ruyan's maid, she was given to her by Princess Zhu, and is Princess Zhu's confidante. If Meixiang hadn't mistakenly eaten that bowl of poisoned bird's nest, it would probably have already ended up in Miss Ruyan's stomach. Xi'er can see clearly that you have feelings for Miss Ruyan; she is Princess Zhu's eyes and ears. The most poisonous heart is a woman's; if she can't have you, she'll destroy you without hesitation."