TGCFNM -Chapter 166 Our Lord Has No Money

Xiao Hua brought over some hot tea. After handing each person a cup, she sat down and said, “Everything here is really expensive.”

Su He nodded in agreement. “It’s far too expensive. One meal here costs as much as three meals in Changzhou.”

Wan Sanjin smiled. “Well, of course. This is the ‘Little Capital,’ after all.”

Feeling pained about the money, Xiao Hua suggested, “Let’s just buy groceries and cook for ourselves. Tomorrow we can go buy some ingredients and kitchenware…”

After saying that, she looked at Su He and Wan Sanjin, her meaning obvious.

Whoever went out with her tomorrow would be the one paying.

Wan Sanjin suddenly looked at her curiously. “Why do you never ask our Lord for money?”

Xiao Hua spread her hands. “Does our Lord even have money? I’ve never even seen his salary.” Even the monthly wages for her and her brother came from the money the Lord earned from selling medicine earlier. The receipts had been given to them to withdraw the money themselves.

Chu Ling’s eyes widened abruptly. “That’s right—where is my salary? I’ve never seen it!”

Wan Sanjin came to a delayed realization as well. “The magistrate’s aide should be paid too, right?”

Su He snorted. “Even a coroner gets paid. The yamen has to cover the cost of autopsies.”

A wave of sorrow surged up in Chu Ling’s heart. “They’re actually making us work for free… Master Wan, have Young Master Wan think of more ways to profit from that silver mine.”

Otherwise she was suffering a huge loss!

“The golden Buddha pendant on Old Master Gao’s neck!” Wan Sanjin suddenly remembered. “Didn’t you take it, Lord? We could pawn it.”

Chu Ling deflated. “Zhuque took it as evidence.”

Wan Sanjin sighed and patted Chu Ling comfortingly. “As long as my elder brother doesn’t fall, our food, clothing, housing, and travel will still be taken care of.”

Chu Ling felt somewhat comforted by that. Just as she was about to speak, she caught sight of a woman standing beneath the osmanthus tree in the courtyard. Though dressed in coarse linen, her beautiful face could not be concealed. She looked pale and gaunt, extremely thin.

“Did she forget the time while cleaning?” Chu Ling murmured, staring in that direction.

“What?” Wan Sanjin turned to look, his brows tinged with a smile. “That osmanthus tree is growing well. Once autumn comes, it’ll probably bloom quite a lot.”

Chu Ling’s hand paused. When she looked at the woman again, her whole body suddenly tensed and stiffened.

No way…

Master Wan spent that much money, and he rented a haunted house?

Chu Ling smacked her forehead and ground her back teeth. “Master Wan, when you have time, go visit a temple and pray.”

“Huh?” Wan Sanjin looked utterly baffled. “Why?”

“When you pray to the Buddha, remember to state your full name, your place of origin, your current residence… If possible, describe yourself too. Otherwise, when the Buddha wants to bless you, He might not be able to find you,” Chu Ling instructed seriously.

Wan Sanjin was still confused. Just as he was about to say something, a sudden chill ran down his spine. Startled, he turned his head. “Has the weather gotten cold so quickly?”

Su He glanced up at the blazing sun, then at the shady spot where they were sitting. “It’s probably cooler under the tree.”

Wan Sanjin hesitated. “Is it? It feels gloomy and cold… Could it be because I rushed on the road this morning and skipped breakfast?”

Chu Ling set down her teacup, fully on guard as she stared at the female ghost.

The ghost slowly drifted closer, tilting her head as she looked at them. “Are you guests visiting my home?”

Resting her chin on her hand, Chu Ling looked at Wan Sanjin and asked, “I just forgot—how long did we rent this unoccupied house for?”

“Three months,” Wan Sanjin said.

Chu Ling gave a soft “mm” and looked at the female ghost.

The ghost seemed surprised and then asked, “Are you Yuanze’s friends?”

Chu Ling had no choice but to turn back to Wan Sanjin. “What was the previous tenant’s name again?”

Wan Sanjin was caught off guard. “We didn’t ask. Didn’t the landlord say the family who lived here before had returned to their hometown? Said they weren’t coming back.”

Chu Ling chuckled. Of course they weren’t coming back—because they couldn’t.

Ghost Scholar looked at the female ghost and explained, “We’re not here as guests, and we don’t know who Yuanze is. We rented this place for three months. We just pressed our handprints on the contract at noon today.”

The ghost stood there blankly, muttering over and over, “Why? How could that be? That’s not right… that’s not right…”

Bai Su studied her face and couldn’t help asking, “Do you… not know that you’re dead? That you’re a ghost now?”

The female ghost was clearly frightened. She pointed at herself in disbelief. “I’m dead?”

Bai Su nodded. “You’re dead.”

For a moment, the ghost could not accept it. She tentatively reached out and touched Chu Ling. When she realized she could make contact, she looked at Bai Su in confusion. “I can touch a living person. Why would I be dead?”

Bai Su braced herself and said, “Her yin energy is heavy. Try someone else.”

The ghost then reached toward Wan Sanjin, who was drinking tea.

Wan Sanjin shivered and looked at the others. “Don’t you feel cold? Am I the only one who feels cold?”

Chu Ling motioned for Wan Sanjin to stretch out his hand. While taking his pulse, she said, “You’re physically weak. Your qi and blood are deficient. You need some tonics. Once you nourish yourself, you’ll be fine.”

Wan Sanjin suddenly understood. “So I’m deficient!”

Meanwhile, the female ghost stared blankly at her own hand passing through. Unwilling to believe it, she tried again and again. It wasn’t until Bai Su pulled her back that Wan Sanjin narrowly escaped further “testing.”

“How could I be dead? I had packed everything. I was going back to our hometown with Yuanze,” the ghost said. Bloody tears streamed down her face as her trembling right hand moved to her abdomen. “I was even pregnant…”

Bai Su looked at the pitiful ghost with sympathy. “Do you remember how you died?”

The ghost shook her head. She was still unable to accept the fact of her death and only cried out, “I don’t know! I only know I was packing to go home. I was going home!”

Ghost Scholar snapped his folding fan open with a flick. “Calm down. You must think about how you died. Think about what your lingering obsession is. Only by resolving it can you dispel your attachment and be reincarnated.”

“No! I don’t want to be reincarnated! I want Yuanze! I want my child!” the ghost wailed miserably.

Seizing the opening, Ghost Scholar cut in directly, “Yuanze is your husband. Where is he?”

“He’s… he’s studying at the academy,” the ghost sobbed. “But I came to find him. We were going back to our hometown.”

“If your husband is studying to earn official rank, why would you delay his studies and insist that he return home with you?” Ghost Scholar asked.

The ghost said resentfully, “Someone tried to catch a son-in-law from the ranking list and took a fancy to him, wanting him to marry into their family. He refused, so we had to leave.”

“If he’s already married, then even if someone tries to seize a son-in-law from the ranking list, as long as he explains that he already has a lawful wife at home, most people wouldn’t break up your marriage,” Ghost Scholar said.

The ghost shook her head desperately, her voice full of hatred. “No. That family used their power to oppress us. He didn’t dare refuse. So we could only pack up and leave this place.”

After listening for a while, Chu Ling suddenly muttered, “A real Chen Shimei, huh?”

Su He asked, “What Chen Shimei?”

Chu Ling coughed lightly. “An adjective.”