Chapter 28

Chapter 28

As for the matter of getting married, Shen Qingyu had only received a little lesson on it from Ming Caihua that day when they attended Zhao Zhiyi and Mu Yunshu’s wedding banquet.

In truth, he did not think marriage was all that interesting. But was this not how humans did things?

After a man and a woman liked each other, they got married.

Qiao Ying had said she liked his looks. That was more or less the same as liking him, wasn’t it?

And based on what she had said, he supposed he liked her too.

In that case, according to the proper procedure, they ought to get married.

Shen Qingyu had no idea how much of a shock the two words “get married” had dealt Qiao Ying. After waiting for a long while without receiving a response, he poked Qiao Ying’s cheek again, smiling sweetly, his manner exceedingly friendly and gentle.

“What’s wrong, Qiao Ying? You don’t want to marry me?”

Qiao Ying fell silent again for a moment. “If I said I didn’t, would you get angry?”

“I probably would.” Shen Qingyu answered her honestly. Then he lay down on his side beside Qiao Ying, propping his head up with one hand. His posture was languid, his smile light and cheerful. “Or were all those things you said to me before just lies?”

Qiao Ying tucked her neck in and pulled the quilt higher. “Of course they were true. I never lie.”

“Then let’s get married.”

The young man’s tone was hardly serious, as if he were merely making a joke. The anticipation in it seemed no more than the eagerness of a child looking forward to a game of house.

Qiao Ying gave up struggling and chose to lie flat. “Fine. Pick an auspicious day, and we’ll get married.”

The youth lowered the hand propping up his head and instead sprawled across the bed. His white hair spread over more than half the mattress, encroaching on her space, yet he was completely unaware of it.

He merely rested his head on his arms and tilted it toward her, asking in innocent confusion, “What is an auspicious day?”

Qiao Ying brushed away a lock of white hair that had fallen onto her face and said calmly, “A good day.”

A trace of bewilderment appeared in his expression.

Zhao Manor had not been peaceful lately.

A young servant had inexplicably died in an abandoned courtyard. What made his death strange was that, although it was now late autumn and not yet the coldest time of year, he had frozen to death.

His corpse was rigid and covered in frost, his features twisted by extreme terror.

It was said that everyone in the manor who had seen the body was so frightened that they suffered nightmares for several nights afterward.

Aunt Wang loved nothing more than gossiping about other people. Every time she shared some rumor, everyone fixed their attention on her, and she enjoyed that feeling immensely. Rubbing the clothes in her hands, she lowered her voice and said to the surrounding aunties:

“They still haven’t found the killer. Look how horribly Xiao Wu died. It definitely wasn’t done by a human. You all had better be careful when walking around Zhao Manor. Who knows? There might be some demon or monster hiding in the manor right now.”

The others drew in a sharp breath, unease welling up in all their hearts.

Aunt Wang continued, “If you ask me, there’s something wrong with the Young Madam. Otherwise, why would Fangcun City have an earthquake as soon as she entered the manor? And now someone in the manor has died too. All these strange things only started happening one after another after she appeared.”

In the past, some people had scoffed at Aunt Wang’s words. But now, after thinking it over, they could not help chiming in. “That’s right. Ever since the Young Madam appeared, the city hasn’t had a peaceful day.”

“Exactly. Her parents are both dead, and she has no living relatives. That shows her fate is extremely hard. I’m afraid wherever she goes, bloodshed follows.”

Aunt Wang lowered her voice. “I’m only telling you this, so don’t go telling anyone else. Last night, in the middle of the night, I got up to use the privy. Behind the artificial hill, I saw a figure. That figure looked so much like the Young Madam. She was crouching in the corner, and I didn’t know what she was doing. Then, when I walked closer-”

“What did you see? Stop keeping us in suspense and say it already!”

Aunt Wang swallowed, still shaken. “I saw that figure tearing into a live chicken. At first, I thought I must have seen wrong, but I asked the kitchen, and sure enough, they discovered a chicken was missing today. Eating raw flesh and drinking blood… I’m afraid this isn’t some demon ghost. It’s a mountain spirit that’s escaped into the world.”
The people around them shuddered, fear showing plainly on their faces.

As Qiao Ying listened to the people of Zhao Manor whispering among themselves, she sat on the stone steps beneath a tree and could not help hugging her arms and rubbing them, as if she, too, had felt a sudden chill.

She did, in fact, still have one last payment of wages to collect. The excuse she had used earlier to run off and eat alone had not been an excuse at all. It was just that the steward was swamped, and there were too many accounts to go over with the accountant, so the wages were being handed out a little slowly.

Old Steward had told her to sit here and wait for a while. Someone would naturally bring the money over soon.

Qiao Ying lifted her face. “Shen Qingyu, are there really Yaoguai in Zhao Manor?”

“There is no Yaoguai aura here.”

Shen Qingyu sat obediently in the shade of the tree. When he smiled, he looked exceptionally gentle, all peaceful years and quiet days, making people feel that he must be very easy to get along with.

Qiao Ying thought to herself that when she had been working in Zhao Manor before, because Zhao Zhiyi had stubbornly insisted on marrying Mu Yunshu, the servants in the manor had already had plenty to say about Mu Yunshu. Now, after only a few days, the rumors about Mu Yunshu being some sort of Yaoguai or ghost had spread even more wildly.

A little boy huddled in the distance, staring at Shen Qingyu for a long while before looking at the big sister beside him, his eyes filled with even more curiosity.

No one knew where Shen Qingyu suddenly produced a handful of peanuts from. He began shelling them slowly, as if it were some very interesting little game.

When the boy saw the peanuts in Shen Qingyu’s hand, he hurriedly felt around in his own pockets.

Empty!

Then he saw Shen Qingyu turn his face slightly, the smile at the corners of his lips faint, as if he were greeting him in a friendly way.

The little boy trembled with anger, but he only dared to be furious in silence.

Qiao Ying was speechless for a long moment. “How old are you? And you’re bullying a child?”

“I did not peel off his skin, nor did I pull out his tendons. How does that count as bullying?” Shen Qingyu offered her the shelled peanuts.

Qiao Ying accepted them without the slightest politeness, while speaking with righteous conviction. “I’ll let it go this time. Next time, you can’t steal things from children.”

Seeing Qiao Ying eat the peanuts without any shame whatsoever, the little boy curled up in the corner grew so angry that his eyes turned red. His hands clawed at the wall, his teeth grinding audibly. He looked as if he wished he could bite those two horrible adults a few times.

“Aunt Wang, stop talking about such frightening things. If the masters hear about it, you’ll be in serious trouble.” Someone changed the subject. “Oh, right, why haven’t we seen you bringing Xiao Shao around with you these past few days?”

Aunt Wang said casually, “That child caught a cold. I told him to rest properly and not follow me around working all day. By now, he’s probably run off somewhere to play again.”

Suddenly, a maid’s scream rang out not far away, instantly drawing everyone’s attention.

“That side seems to be the young master’s and Young Madam’s courtyard. What happened over there?”

Aunt Wang’s eyes lit up. “It must be something big. Lots of people are running that way. Quick, let’s go have a look.”

Qiao Ying looked at Shen Qingyu. “Should we go watch the excitement too?”

“Do you want to?”

Qiao Ying answered honestly, “I am a little curious.”

He smiled. “Then let us go.”

Qiao Ying hurriedly stood up, but before she had taken even two steps, she heard the young man behind her say, completely without warning, “The fifteenth of this month.”

Qiao Ying turned back. “What?”

Amid the dappled light and shadow, the youth in green robes with white hair smiled with pure innocence. “On the night of the full moon, the Hundred Ghosts emerge from the abyss, the Mountain Yaoguai whisper in secret, and the Chimei Wangliang prowl unseen through the wilds. It is a fine day indeed.”

Qiao Ying: “…”

Fine day, my foot!