TGCFNM -Chapter 9 Zhang Yuanwai Again

Chu Ling had originally left the yamen to look for a pageboy and a maid. Now that she had found both, she sent them back to pack their things—they would be living at the yamen from now on.

After all, such a vast government office, and aside from her, it was full of ghosts.

Once the two had left, the Ghost Scholar looked at Chu Ling and asked with a smile, “Where to now?”

“To make money!” Chu Ling had already set her goal. She rented a donkey, mounted it, and headed toward Flying Crane Mountain. The Ghost Scholar floated along beside her, the two occasionally exchanging a few words.

“Actually, Chasing Wind is much faster,” the Ghost Scholar said with a chuckle.

Chu Ling knew that well. That wild horse had a graceful build and glossy coat—an excellent breed—and its speed more than lived up to the name she had casually given it.

But there was no way she dared ride a horse.

“Master, this donkey is safer…”

“Someone’s following us,” the Ghost Scholar said, turning his head to look back. “That merchant’s son.”

That peacock?

“Whether or not he came because of Prince Rui as you suspect, his purpose is obvious—he’s here for you,” the Ghost Scholar said, gazing into the distance with a thoughtful expression.

Chu Ling lifted her phoenix eyes. After a brief pause, she asked, “A merchant’s son who understands official silver—his family background must be extraordinary, no?”

The Ghost Scholar neither confirmed nor denied it.

Chu Ling smiled. “Perfect. I’m still short of a chief clerk anyway. If he wants to get close to me, then let him come.” Better to keep him under her nose than be tested from afar.

After about half an hour, Chu Ling finally swayed to a stop on her donkey. She looked up at Flying Crane Mountain and couldn’t help sucking in a cold breath. “There aren’t even any steps.”

She cast an envious glance at the Ghost Scholar hovering in midair, then resigned herself to climbing the mountain. Before coming, she had asked Zhang Dong—One-Blade Cut was a place where two massive boulders were stacked together, as if split open by a single slash, the cut surface exceptionally smooth.

Of course, “One-Blade Cut” was the local name; outsiders called it Crane Wing Stone.

“Aunt Su is a local?” Chu Ling asked casually while searching for a thick branch she could use as a support.

The Ghost Scholar replied softly, “Mm.”

“Then you are too, Master.”

“Is my lord so curious about the dead?” the Ghost Scholar asked with a smile.

Chu Ling finally found a suitable branch, tested it, then turned her head with satisfaction to look at him. “Your features are upright and refined, your bearing otherworldly. You don’t seem like someone from a small place like this.”

“My lord, if you don’t hurry and gather the herbs, the sun will be setting soon,” the Ghost Scholar said, gently shaking his folding fan as he slowly floated upward.

Chu Ling resigned herself and continued climbing.

Not long after, a man in brocade clothes narrowed his eyes, examined the path ahead, and followed them up.

Half an hour later, Chu Ling was panting heavily as she finally reached the mountain. Following the route Zhang Dong had provided, she found One-Blade Cut, then climbed down along the cliff face to a small platform. From the damp crevices between the stones, she found the Purple Ancient Grass that Bai Su had mentioned.

She immediately began the arduous task of digging. After carefully excavating all the mature Purple Ancient Grass, she wrapped it in a tattered piece of cloth she carried with her, tied it to her back, and let out a long breath.

The Ghost Scholar looked up at the sky. “My lord, it’s time to go down the mountain.”

Chu Ling hummed in acknowledgment, used the rocks to climb back up, then followed her original path slowly down the mountain. “Zhang Dong said he could come over tonight. I’ll finally have dinner.”

As soon as she finished speaking, her sharp eyes caught a fleeting glimpse of a dark purple robe corner.

Just as Chu Ling was about to open her mouth and curse that shameless peacock, a shrill scream suddenly erupted from the mountainside ahead. Chaos instantly broke out over there.

“That seems to be…” Chu Ling hesitated.

“The graveyard of Flying Crane Mountain. Most of the prominent families in Sishui County are buried in that feng shui treasure land,” the Ghost Scholar said solemnly, his lips pressed into a thin line.

Chu Ling frowned and said directly, “Master, let’s go take a look.”

When one human and one ghost arrived, what they saw was Zhang Yuanwai in a towering rage, his seven- or eight-months-pregnant belly thrust forward as he kicked people without restraint.

“Zhang Yuanwai?” Chu Ling swept her gaze around with a half-smile, stepping closer, her feet treading on freshly dug soil.

Zhang Yuanwai knitted his brows and replied curtly, “So it’s Magistrate Chu.”

“Zhang Yuanwai, administering private punishment here?” Chu Ling lowered her eyes to glance at the man who had been kicked to the ground—he looked to be around fifty.

In Great Zhou, even maids and servants who had signed indenture contracts could not be beaten to death at will. If no one saw it, that was one thing—but if it were reported to the authorities, it could not be settled privately. What’s more, Chu Ling herself had witnessed it this time.

Zhang Yuanwai clenched his back teeth, took several deep breaths to calm himself, and only then slowly explained the matter in detail.

It turned out that recently Zhang Yuanwai had been repeatedly dreaming of his late father, who complained that he was sleeping uncomfortably. Zhang suspected the feng shui here was bad, so he planned to relocate the grave—from the mountainside of Flying Crane Mountain to the summit, where the feng shui would surely be better.

But after digging up the coffin, they were shocked to discover a skeleton pressed beneath it. Many of the bones were broken, apparently crushed by the coffin back in the day.

Who knew which heartless bastard had buried a corpse in the grave plot they had chosen first. No wonder the Zhang family’s feng shui had been affected—his younger brother had never made further progress all these years.

This old man was the one responsible back then. Zhang Yuanwai had even paid a large sum to invite him again to handle the relocation, only for this to happen.

“Such bad luck!” Zhang Yuanwai shot a cold glance at the skeleton below, picked up a stone, and was about to smash it down.

“Save me.”

Chu Ling instinctively grabbed his arm. “If the bones are smashed, it’ll have no scruples left. When it retaliates madly, the old master will be even more unsettled.”

Hearing this, Zhang Yuanwai angrily flung the stone aside and pointed at the old man, cursing, “I trusted you so much back then, Wang Daxian…”

Wang Daxian rolled over and knelt on the ground, begging for mercy. “Yuanwai, Yuanwai, th-this was completely an accident. But rest assured, Yuanwai—this time the place I chose is absolutely a prime tiger lair. And the timing, the offerings, the acupoints—only I know them…” As he spoke, he carefully glanced up at Zhang Yuanwai.

Only then did Chu Ling notice that the old man’s hair was gray-white, his hat long since fallen aside. His clothes, caked with dirt and indistinct, looked like a daoist robe—so he was actually a Daoist priest.

Zhang Yuanwai suppressed his fury, staring at the white bones at the bottom of the pit, then at the coffin nearby. He wanted nothing more than to hang Wang Daxian up and lash him dozens of times—but right now, he couldn’t do that.

It infuriated Zhang Yuanwai to no end.

Chu Ling’s lips were slightly pale as she kicked Wang Daxian. “The sun’s about to set. Why aren’t you hurrying to carry Old Master Zhang’s coffin up there, so it can be buried and put to rest as soon as possible?”

Wang Daxian reacted immediately, hastily calling for people to lift the coffin, while ordering others to carry the offerings and head up the mountain.

“Zhang Yuanwai, leave the skeleton down here to me,” Chu Ling said.

Zhang Yuanwai immediately cupped his hands in thanks. “Then I’ll have to trouble you, Magistrate. I’ll be sure to send you several jars of good tea afterward.” With that, he hurriedly urged his men to move up the mountain, not daring to miss the auspicious time.