Chapter 47
Chapter 47
Wu Meng’s younger daughter-in-law was pregnant with her third child, and because the pregnancy was unstable, she had been brought to the mansion to rest. Her bedroom was located on the west side of the main courtyard, in a small, separate courtyard of its own.
According to ancient customs, that was the living quarters for a concubine.
Specifically, it was the courtyard where Cao Yu-shi lived after she was taken in as a concubine.
Wu Meng led us to the small courtyard. As soon as I stepped through the door, I noticed that the thresholds of several rooms had been smashed away and leveled over with fresh cement.
Those two pomegranates had been found inside the threshold of the inner room.
I looked around inside and out but didn’t see anything particularly unusual. As the sky grew dark, I prepared to stay the night to see how things developed.
Returning to the Main Hall, I asked again, “Where was that Pawn Ticket found?”
“Master Hui Quan helped find the Pawn Ticket,” Wu Meng said. “It was wrapped up and buried in a corner just inside the main gate.”
I couldn’t help but sigh in admiration. “To find it hidden in such an obscure spot, Master Hui Quan is truly impressive.”
Master Hui Quan smiled and waved a hand dismissively. “Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu overpraises me. It was merely a trivial trick.”
Wu Meng prepared a meal. It was only when we sat down that I realized there were only a few of us in the large mansion.
I asked, “Where are your younger son and daughter-in-law?”
“My daughter-in-law was frightened, so they moved back to their place in the city,” Wu Meng replied.
I thought for a moment and said, “Could you have your younger son-no, actually, just find a few young men to come over and stay in the mansion tonight?”
Wu Meng asked in confusion, “Why?”
His wife immediately slapped his hand and snapped, “Whatever Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu asks for, we do. Sending away those Dirty Things in our house is what matters most.”
Wu Meng nodded and started making calls, summoning both of his sons back.
Around nine o’clock that night, everyone retired to their rooms.
We all stayed in the main courtyard but kept a constant eye on the movements in the West Courtyard.
This was destined to be a sleepless night for everyone.
After turning off the lights, I closed my eyes to rest my mind.
Li Qingying lay beside me and whispered, “Xiao Jiu, why did you have the two Wu family sons come back?”
“To lure the snake out of its hole,” I replied. “Did you forget a key point Wu Meng mentioned while recounting everything? It was only when the female ghost encountered the younger son that she asked, ‘Have you seen my Commendation Document?'”
Li Qingying said thoughtfully, “The Commendation Document is the key, and the ghost doesn’t trust just anyone.”
“The situation might be a bit more complicated,” I analyzed. “Perhaps, as you said, she only trusts a certain young man in the mansion given the context of that era. But there’s another possibility: her Commendation Document was taken by a young man, and that specific act led to some terrible consequences.”
Which case it was, we should be able to get a glimpse tonight.
Time ticked by. Around eleven o’clock at night, there was a soft knock on our door, followed by Wu Meng’s voice: “Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu, there seems to be movement over in the West Courtyard.”
I quickly got up and crept toward the West Courtyard.
Lurking outside the small gate of the West Courtyard, I saw a flickering light inside the Main Room. It wasn’t electric light; it looked like an old oil lamp.
Amidst the flickering shadows, a strange figure was cast upon the window. It looked human, yet not quite.
How could I describe that feeling?
It was as if several people, large and small, were standing there stacked on top of one another.
From inside the room came the faint sound of a woman’s voice, filled with terror and grievance, repeating the same sentence over and over: “Cao Yu-shi of Jing City, aged sixteen, taken as Lord Cao’s concubine, widowed the same night, maintained her chastity and filial piety for three years, bore no offspring…”
I had seen this sentence before!
It was the description of Cao Yu-shi’s life from the Commendation Document.
But why was Cao Yu-shi repeating this sentence over and over in the middle of the night?
Who was she saying it to?
And why was she saying these things?
As I pondered, the woman’s voice suddenly turned shrill, as if she had suffered some ultimate humiliation. She began to scream hysterically, begging for mercy.
Over and over again.
The commotion in the West Courtyard was so immense that everyone in the main courtyard had gathered behind me, their faces pale with dread.
Just then, the door to the West Courtyard’s Main Room creaked open.
Behind me, Wu Meng’s younger son, Wu Qian, spoke in a trembling voice. “She’s coming out… she’s coming out…”
Wu Qian’s legs were shaking so violently he looked like he was about to bolt.
I lowered my voice. “Wu Qian, you go over first.”
Wu Qian shook his head frantically. A grown man, he looked like he was on the verge of tears as he shoved his older brother, Wu Chang. “Big brother, you go. You go first.”
Wu Chang had heard about what was happening at home but hadn’t experienced it firsthand. Ignorance lent him courage. “Look at you, acting like such a coward. Is that thing really going to eat you?”
With that, he lifted his foot and strode boldly into the West Courtyard.
Wu Chang took large steps and quickly reached the entrance of the West Courtyard’s Main Room.
But just as he turned to enter, his entire body suddenly froze.
Then, he began to back away step by step. His movements were stiff and sluggish, as if his feet were encased in lead.
As Wu Chang slowly retreated, the figure of Cao Yu-shi gradually came into everyone’s view.
What a sight she was!
She was emaciated-so thin she seemed to be nothing more than skin and bones-yet her belly was enormous, protruding as if she were about to give birth.
Her hair was a tangled mess that completely obscured her face, but perched on her shoulders were seven or eight… blue-faced infants!
She stared fixedly at Wu Chang, advancing one step at a time. Her oversized skirt dragged across the ground, leaving behind a wide, dark trail of brownish blood…
Wu Chang was paralyzed with fear. After backing up a few paces, he stood there with his legs shaking, unable to move another inch.
It was then that Cao Yu-shi spoke. “Excuse me, have you seen my Commendation Document?”
Wu Chang shook his head desperately. “I… I haven’t seen any Commendation Document. I don’t know. I don’t know anything!”
Cao Yu-shi paused, appearing disappointed. She turned and began walking toward the main courtyard.
The moment she turned, all of us retreated into the Main Hall.
I caught Li Qingying’s eye and gave her a look. She immediately shoved Wu Qian out into the open.
Wu Qian let out a yelp and tried to scramble back inside.
But it was too late.
Cao Yu-shi had spotted him.
Moving with a sudden, unnatural speed that replaced her previous slow crawl, she was in front of Wu Qian in an instant. In a voice raspy from weeping, she asked again, “Excuse me, have you seen my Commendation Document?”
Wu Qian’s voice broke as he sobbed, “No, I haven’t seen it.”
Cao Yu-shi moved past Wu Qian and headed toward the east courtyard.
She searched the east courtyard, then went into its main room to look. We dodged and hid to avoid her path. Then she moved on to the front courtyard.
She circled and searched, over and over. Her movements grew visibly more frantic, and the expressions on the Little Ghosts perched on her shoulders became increasingly hideous.
After searching almost the entire estate, Cao Yu-shi returned.
This time, she had a clear target. She went straight for Wu Qian.
She moved so fast it was like teleportation; Wu Qian had no time to hide. “Excuse me, have you seen my Commendation Document?”
Wu Qian repeated the same words: “I haven’t seen it!”
He expected her to leave as she had before, but this time she didn’t.
She asked again, “Excuse me, have you seen my Commendation Document?”
Wu Qian grew desperate. “I said I haven’t seen it! I haven’t seen it!”
Suddenly, Cao Yu-shi laughed.
*Heh heh heh…*
The moment that sinister, wicked laughter rang out, the crimson eyes of the Little Ghosts on her shoulders turned in unison to stare at Wu Qian.
In the next breath, Cao Yu-shi asked once more, “Lord Cao, have you really not seen my Commendation Document?”