Chapter 87
Chapter 87
“Are you really not going to do anything about them anymore?”
Wuyou floated out of the courtyard after her, looking at Xia Ximo’s back, and couldn’t help asking.
Xia Ximo did not answer right away. Instead, she glanced at the osmanthus tree by the gate.
It was not hard to imagine how warm and harmonious a picture it must have been when the osmanthus blossoms filled the air with fragrance and this family of four sat beneath the tree, enjoying each other’s company.
And with Zhou Zigui’s character, if not for this calamity, he and Liu Shi should have spent the rest of their lives surrounded by children and grandchildren, happily doted on by their descendants.
What a pity…
Xia Ximo stood at the gate for a while, then looked back once more.
But just as she stepped down the stairs, Zhou Zigui’s voice came from behind her.
“Miss…”
He stood behind the hall doors with Liu Shi and their son and daughter. As Yin Souls feared the sunlight, they could not step outside.
“Made up your mind?”
Xia Ximo asked coldly.
Though her voice was icy, a slight softening could clearly be heard in her tone.
Behind her, Zhou Zigui took his wife’s hand and said, “I do feel resentment. My wife and I loved each other deeply, yet we could not grow old together. But to have gained such devotion in this world is already a tremendous blessing.”
“Though we could not be born and die on the same day, we can still go to the Yellow Springs hand in hand. That should be enough. If the heavens take pity on us, they will surely let us meet again in the next life.”
After hearing this, Xia Ximo’s expression remained indifferent, but she gave a faint hum through her nose.
Wuyou was surprised that, this time, she had not spoken some brutally honest words that poured cold water over everything.
She had gained the slightest bit of “human feeling,” it seemed.
Zhou Zigui continued, “There is one more thing. I once promised it to you, Miss…”
Xia Ximo lifted her eyes. “What?”
Zhou Zigui pointed at the osmanthus tree beside them. “My ten ingots of gold are buried beneath this osmanthus tree. I give them to you, Miss.”
So that was what he meant.
“Mm.”
Xia Ximo gave another hum, though not the slightest hint of joy appeared on her face. She merely turned to ask him, “Anything else?”
Zhou Zigui smiled and shook his head, then lowered his head and bowed. “Thank you, Miss.”
Wuyou gathered the souls of the whole family into the Soul-Ferrying Lantern.
Xia Ximo picked up a small flower hoe from the courtyard and dug beneath the osmanthus tree for a while. She dug out a small, dark box, and inside were indeed ten ingots of gold.
After taking the gold, she left the Zhou Residence and headed toward the entrance of East Market, originally planning to hire a carriage and go straight to Zheng Daoyuan’s residence.
However, as she passed by a storefront, the signboard reading “Zhou’s Pastries” suddenly came into view. The shop doors were tightly shut, and it looked as if the business had been closed for quite some time.
Xia Ximo sensed the souls inside the Soul-Ferrying Lantern tremble faintly. Clearly, this place stirred them deeply.
Looking at this old, established shop, she paused for a moment, a thoughtful look in her eyes.
She hired a carriage, but returned to the Ren Residence first.
The steward, Ren Cong, was leisurely watering flowers in the courtyard when a figure abruptly appeared reflected on the wall beside him. Startled, his hand jerked, and water spilled all over the ground.
“Miss Xia, why don’t you make any sound when you walk?”
He clutched his chest, clearly badly frightened.
Xia Ximo walked up to him and handed him a box. “I need you to handle something for me.”
Ren Cong was startled again.
She needed him to handle something?
That was rare indeed.
He looked at the box, alarmed and uncertain, and asked, “What… is inside this box?”
Xia Ximo instructed, “There is a shop in East Market called Zhou’s Pastries. Find someone reliable to take it over. Will this money be enough?”
Ren Cong took the box, opened it, and was startled yet again.
A full ten ingots of gold.
Never mind finding someone to take over the shop-with this much, one could buy it outright.
“This much? Of course it’s enough…”
As the steward, Ren Cong managed all the daily expenses of the entire Ren Residence, including Ren Fengjue’s food, clothing, housing, and transportation.
Ren Cong was often out and about in the city, so he knew the situation in the eastern and western markets like the back of his hand.
The moment he heard “Zhou’s Pastries,” he recognized it as an old establishment that had been around for more than a decade. Half a year ago, something had happened to its owner, and the shop could no longer stay open.
He had heard that several of the shop assistants had even quarreled for a while over differing opinions, though he did not know the details.
Still, with such a good location, it really was a pity for the place to suddenly close down.
Ren Cong had no idea why Xia Ximo had suddenly decided to meddle in the affairs of this shop…
He was just about to explain the various complications involved when Xia Ximo said bluntly, “As long as it’s enough. If there’s any left over, keep it.”
“…”
Previously, when the Young Marquis had given her one hundred taels of silver, she had accepted it as a matter of course.
When he had winter clothes made for her, she had been even more brazen with her requests.
Ren Cong had always been rather dissatisfied with her.
He had even privately grumbled that this woman had come to the estate either to climb the social ladder, or else she was surely after something.
But now that he thought about it, her attitude toward the Young Marquis showed not the slightest intention of currying favor.
Yet if she was after money…
These were ten ingots of gold. And she had handed them over without so much as blinking?
Ren Cong could not make sense of it no matter how he thought about it, but Xia Ximo gave him no chance to refuse. She turned and left the estate again.
On the way to the Shuntian Prefect’s Mansion, Wuyou risked being “silenced” and still came out to chatter a little.
“Those ten ingots of gold-you didn’t even keep one for yourself?”
“If you leave Ren Fengjue later, you’ll need money to get around in the mortal world, won’t you?”
“Don’t tell me… you’re not planning to leave anymore?”
The moment that question was asked, Wuyou felt itself restrained by some strange force.
It had no choice but to shut its mouth at once, though it could not help muttering a few more words inwardly-
She must be reluctant to leave too.
And judging by how things were developing, her entanglement with the Ren Family’s Young Marquis would only grow deeper!
Because Zheng Daoyuan had died under suspicious circumstances, no funeral had been held in the mansion before the case was closed.
Over the past two days, however, in addition to officials coming to investigate, people had also begun arriving one after another to offer condolences and comfort.
Xia Ximo had only come the day before. When she arrived again, the gatekeepers and servants treated her with considerable awe and respect.
After they informed the steward, she was soon brought once more to Zheng Daoyuan’s study.
Strangely, however, his ghost was nowhere to be seen inside.
Xia Ximo looked around. Seeing a wisp of yin energy coiling in the courtyard behind the study, she asked, “Whose courtyard is that in the back?”
The steward hesitated before replying, “It is… our young master’s.”
“Take me there.”
Hearing this, the steward said, “Miss, you have seen our young master’s condition. Madam does not wish for him to learn of the master’s death. It would not be good for him…”
Xia Ximo cut him off. “Your master is clinging to him. That is what is not good for him.”
At that, the steward was stunned. He looked up and saw her pitch-black eyes fixed on him, and a chill instantly crawled up his back.
He did not dare ask anything more and immediately went ahead to lead the way.
No sooner had the two of them entered the courtyard where Zheng Ze lived than an eerie wind suddenly swept in from nowhere.
Xia Ximo swept her gaze across the place and, sure enough, saw yin energy filling the main room.
She took a few more steps closer, and the Yin Soul within the Soul-Ferrying Lantern began to tremble as well.
Just then, however, the sound of a ghost weeping came from inside the room.
Through the half-open door, Zheng Ze could be seen sitting before the writing desk, while Zheng Daoyuan’s ghost floated beside him, sobbing in grief.
He reached out, as if wanting to touch his son. Yet his soul had long since been separated from the mortal world by an unseen barrier. No matter how he tried to touch him, the living and the dead were already divided by yin and yang; humans and ghosts belonged to different realms.