TGCFNM -Chapter 28 The Problem Still Lies With You

Chu Ling paced back and forth in the room, her expression growing increasingly serious.

“This perfectly seamless background, a tailor-made family history—it’s clear they came prepared, and it’s all for you, Shen Lizhou!” Chu Ling pointed at him.

Shen Lizhou froze in place.

“Shen Lizhou, I need you to think carefully about anything abnormal in your interactions with them. The problem still lies with you. There’s definitely something about you they covet—otherwise, they wouldn’t go to such lengths to get close.” Chu Ling’s suspicion deepened.

Shen Lizhou couldn’t help but examine himself, reflecting on everything that had happened so far. He really couldn’t see anything about this poor student of humble means that anyone would want.

“At the very least, Pei Yuan is from a wealthy family. If the others also come from good households, that means four of them pretended to be poor students to get close to you—and one of them even had a study companion, so that’s five in total.” Chu Ling pieced together the information she had gathered.

“You have no power, no influence, no money, no background, right?” Chu Ling asked.

Shen Lizhou immediately nodded. “I’ve been studying hard for fifteen years. A few years ago, I didn’t even have money to go to the capital. This year I saved a little; by early next year I should be able to go to the capital. I have a relative there I can stay with for a while, and then I’ll take the spring examination.”

“Did you tell those people this?” Chu Ling asked, and immediately regretted it. With Shen Lizhou’s personality, of course he would have explained in detail.

Sure enough, Shen Lizhou pursed his lips and remained silent, effectively confirming it.

Chu Ling sighed and sat back down. “Then I understand. The only thing they could covet about you is your knowledge.”

“My knowledge… isn’t particularly remarkable,” Shen Lizhou said, shifting uneasily.

Chu Ling looked at him. If he weren’t already a ghost, she guessed he would be blushing furiously with embarrassment right now.

“Master,” Chu Ling turned to the ghostly tutor, “I think being overly humble isn’t good—it makes you seem timid and insecure.”

Shen Lizhou stared blankly at her.

The ghost master had no choice but to speak, explaining to Shen Lizhou, “What the lady said is correct. Especially during the final imperial exam, if you appear hesitant and timid, even good performance may not get you through.”

Shen Lizhou gave a bitter smile. “Back then, I envied those classmates, thinking their speech was natural and elegant, while I could never learn it.”

“What did you talk about?” Chu Ling asked.

Shen Lizhou thought carefully. “Everything… we talked about poetry, literature, what might be on the exam, and the examiners themselves…”

Chu Ling felt like she had grasped something, but the insight was fleeting and slipped away before she could fully seize it. She had no choice but to set it aside for now.

In any case, the priority was still to examine the corpse and find the culprit first.

Late at night.

Wang Long and Wang Hu stood outside, full of energy. Chu Ling, with Su He and a few ghosts, quietly left the courtyard, leaving Zhang Dong and Xiao Hua behind to keep watch.

Following the route they had planned during the day, they reached the low western wall without obstruction. Avoiding the patrols, they climbed over it.

But as soon as they landed on the other side, they came face-to-face with someone outside the courtyard.

“Master Wan!” Wang Long and Wang Hu exclaimed in surprise.

Wan Sanjin clutched his chest, still startled, and asked, “How did you get out? I was going to climb in to find you! When I heard you were staying at the magistrate’s mansion, I was shocked—I thought you’d been threatened.”

“No threats. The county magistrate had the prefect personally bring us in to stay,” Su He explained with a gesture.

Wan Sanjin looked at Chu Ling with a baffled expression. “Sir, have you gone mad?”

Chu Ling: “……”

“Where’s Sun Yang?” Chu Ling changed the subject.

“I drugged him; he’s asleep,” Wan Sanjin said, then quickly called to a few men, “Come on, get on the carriage; let’s leave here first.”

Chu Ling watched the carriage pulled by Zhuifeng and, for the first time, felt a pang of sympathy for the wild horse.

“If I had known that Zhuifeng letting you go first was just a trick to get the carriage, I definitely wouldn’t have allowed it,” Chu Ling said, still stepping onto the carriage.

Su He followed closely. “Let’s go to the mortuary.”

Wang Long and Wang Hu exchanged glances and both asked, “Where’s the mortuary?”

Su He said in a low voice, “Normally, mortuaries are in very secluded places, away from the streets. After all, ordinary people are afraid; few would use their family estate as a mortuary like I do.”

Chu Ling remained silent: Not just few—you’re literally the only one, standing out all alone!

“You’re going to examine a corpse?” Wan Sanjin realized, “At night?”

“Mm, examining a corpse at night might let us meet a ghost. Then we can just ask it, ‘Hey, how did you die?’ and it would tell us,” Chu Ling said mischievously, watching with satisfaction as Wan Sanjin turned pale, clearly scared, and smiled while sitting down.

Wan Sanjin rubbed his arms, sat down next to Su He, and muttered softly, “You’re something else. Sir, you’re terrifying.”

Chu Ling held back a laugh, not knowing what Wan Sanjin’s reaction would be if he knew a row of ghosts were sitting right across from him.

Wang Long and Wang Hu weren’t quite sure what counted as “secluded,” so they drove off the small path, heading outward.

That night was pitch-black; the moon was completely hidden by clouds, not a single ray of light seeped through. The carriage could only rely on the oil lamp hanging from the eaves for light. The soft yellow glow illuminated only a small area.

Whether by luck or fate, they actually found the mortuary. But just before they arrived, Shen Lizhou suddenly said, “It seems my remains aren’t here.”

Chu Ling immediately shouted, “Stop. Leave here at once.”

Wang Long and Wang Hu promptly obeyed, quickly turning the horses around.

“Find a quiet place and hide for now,” Chu Ling added.

Wan Sanjin personally took the reins, leading the carriage into an alley, then stopped it in a secluded backyard.

“This place I bought today,” Wan Sanjin said. “I planned to just stay here. It’s more secluded, should be safe.”

Chu Ling couldn’t help but marvel inwardly: the thoughts of the wealthy are really different—if they want a place to stay, they just buy a residence.

With that, Chu Ling got out first, gesturing for everyone to enter the house, and blew out the oil lamp.

Soon, a series of lights flashed outside. Judging by the direction, it seemed to be the magistrate’s residence. Were they checking if they had really left?

“What do we do?” Su He asked anxiously. “They’re checking if we’re here.”

Chu Ling remained silent. Only after the lights disappeared did she slowly say, “When the time comes, Wan Sanjin will personally escort us back. We’ll enter through the main gate and just say that the magistrate of Sishui County arranged a place for me to stay and worried I wouldn’t be satisfied, so he personally invited me to see it at night.”

“And since we’re already guests at someone else’s house, wanting to stay elsewhere would surely make Magistrate Zhang think the hospitality was insufficient. To avoid upsetting him, we decided to climb over the wall, check it out, and then return it.”

“Such nonsense—would Magistrate Zhang believe that?” Wan Sanjin looked at them, thinking their magistrate had lost his mind.

Su He had learned to be smart this time. “He would.”

The magistrate really would believe such ghost stories.