The Imperial Guard's Revenge

Chapter 42 Cover-up

Lu Heng went out in the middle of the night, and it was already Sigeng when he came back. After Wang Yanqing returned to her room, she didn’t sleep long before it was dawn outside. Thinking about entering the palace today, she didn’t feel sleepy at all, so she quickly got up to wash.

|| Sigeng (四更) refers to the Ancient Chinese night time system, where there are 5 periods in the night. Sigeng is the fourth, timing around 1-3 am.

Last night, she and Lu Heng agreed that Lu Heng would go to South Fusi for roll call first, and then send someone to pick her up at the Lu Mansion when he was ready. Wang Yanqing changed into a low-key moon-white long button jacket and a lavender horse-faced skirt with white silk shoes. She sat quietly in the house waiting for Lu Heng.

The sun shone through the Ruyi pattern on the partition board, casting a hazy golden light on the room. Wang Yanqing sat sideways on the Arhat bed, with her feet together on the pedestals, as the edge of her moon-white long jacket hung down beside her legs, revealing a delicate and neat skirt.

|| The Ruyi (如意) is a traditional ancient artifact symbolizing good fortune. Looks a little like a back scratcher which it was later used as.

This long coat was knee-length. Although it was dignified, it was easy to look bloated, however, worn on her it looked slim. Because of her side-sitting posture, the fabric on her waist was tightened to outline her slender waistline. Looking at the beauty like jade from a distance, the years were quiet, dignified, and beautiful.

After Wang Yanqing finished arranging herself, she waited in the room for a while, and around this time, the person Lu Heng sent came to pick her up. Wang Yanqing got into the carriage and sat the entire journey quietly, as arranged. After some time, the carriage stopped and Wang Yanqing lifted the curtain of the carriage seeing Lu Heng not far away.

He changed into a blue flying fish robe, with a slender embroidered spring knife hanging on his waist. The color was not as flamboyant as crimson, but he was more majestic and solemn. He was fair-skinned, and his dark uniform made him look more handsome, not angry and arrogant. He was standing in front of the palace gate talking to the eunuch. When he saw the carriage coming, he stopped talking and walked toward Wang Yanqing.

The palace in front of him was continuous, tight, and splendid. The guards around him were all fully armed with impressive power. As Wang Yanqing stood among them, she felt extremely small. She couldn’t help feeling flustered, and subconsciously relied on the only person she knew: “Second Brother.”

Lu Heng glanced at her and quickly understood that she was afraid. Lu Heng thought to himself that she insisted so much last night. He thought she was born with reckless courage, but he still knew she was afraid.

Lu Heng felt helpless and pitiful again. He stopped in front of Wang Yanqing and comforted: “Don’t be nervous, I will be with you. The palace has been arranged. I will take you to see the emperor first.”

Wang Yanqing nodded and followed Lu Heng step by step. After they entered the palace, they turned west and entered a passageway enclosed by the palace walls. This route seemed to have been cleaned up in advance and Wang Yanqing did not meet anyone else. Occasionally when a eunuch passed by and saw Lu Heng, he bowed his hands from a distance, and politely greeted: “Commander Lu.”

They lowered their eyes and even though they were very curious about the woman behind Commander Lu, they didn’t look up. Lu Heng didn’t talk much and took Wang Yanqing straight to the Qianqing Palace. He walked out of the lane, passed through the Longzong Gate, and spoke to Wang Yanqing: “The Qianqing Palace is in front. You don’t have to be nervous, the emperor is very kind. If you have anything to say, the emperor will be understanding.”

Lu Heng’s words secretly reminded Wang Yanqing, don’t play tricks when meeting the emperor, let alone be smart, speak straight, and nothing will happen.

Wang Yanqing seemed to comprehend and nodded her agreement. There was already a eunuch waiting in front of the Qianqing Palace, and when he saw Lu Heng, he put down his duster and greeted him with a smile: “Master Lu has arrived. The emperor is cleaning up inside, Master Lu please.”

The eunuch smiled and his eyes wandered as he spoke. His eyes swept across Wang Yanqing, but he did not ask who she was. Wang Yanqing could only smile at the eunuch, bow her head and follow Lu Heng into the hall.

Wang Yanqing did not dare to look around after entering the door, and kept her eyes down, only to feel that the golden bricks under her feet were deep and restrained, and the surrounding furnishings were elegant and firm, not as resplendent as she imagined. Lu Heng didn’t need the guidance of the eunuch when he entered the palace, he walked eastward skillfully, and seemed to be very familiar with the decoration of the Qianqing Palace. They entered a warm pavilion, and Lu Heng stopped and greeted in front: “Long live the emperor.”

Wang Yanqing immediately understood that the person above was the emperor. Wang Yanqing also hurriedly greeted. The emperor was wearing a Taoist robe with full sleeves and was sitting on the throne reading a Qingci. He replied softly and said: “You are here. In the middle of the night last night, there was a commotion in the East Palace, what happened?”

|| Qingci (青词) translates to “green words” which refer to written words on green rattan paper by Taoist Preists.

Lu Heng cupped his hands, lowered his eyes slightly, and said: “Last night, the people of the Ciqing Palace heard some strange noises again. Empress Zhang may not have slept well, and her mind is not very peaceful. She said that she wants to move the palace. This official brought someone today to persuade Empress Zhang.”

The emperor finished reading the Qingci written by Zhang Jinggong. He folded it, put it aside, looked up, and saw Wang Yanqing behind Lu Heng. The emperor’s gaze swept over Wang Yanqing. Before the emperor could speak, Lu Heng, like a roundworm in the emperor’s stomach, introduced: “Your Majesty, this is my younger sister.”

The emperor knew the situation of the Lu family all too well. Where did Lu Heng have a younger sister? The emperor realized that this was the foster sister of Fu Tingzhou, whom Lu Heng mentioned some time ago. She accidentally fell with an injury to her head and mistook Lu Heng for her elder brother.

The emperor looked at Wang Yanqing secretly and then looked at Lu Heng. Lu Heng remained motionless, as calm as if it was true.

The emperor and Lu Heng were close, but they never interfered in each other’s private affairs. Lu Heng had never had a woman before, and the emperor was secretly worried about whether Lu Heng had any hidden problems. Unexpectedly, Lu Heng refused to accept women not because of physical problems or psychological reasons, but because he was fond of unique qualities.

He didn’t know that he would actually like the brother and sister part.

The emperor gave a very light hum, and there was no fluctuation on his face as if he had heard an unusual thing. Lu Heng breathed a sigh of relief and said: “Empress Zhang has suspected that there are ghosts around her and this official is a foreigner. It is inconvenient for me to stay in the Ciqing Palace for a long time, so I brought her here. She will stay in the Ciqing Palace tonight to protect Empress Zhang closely so that Empress Zhang can feel at ease.”

The palace was so big that it didn’t matter to the emperor to keep one more person. The emperor said lightly: “You arrange it. In a while when you meet the Empress, comfort her for me. Don’t scare yourself and let outsiders see you make a fool of yourself.”

Lu Heng heard that the emperor did not want Empress Zhang to move the palace. The harem lived well. If Empress Zhang was clamoring to move because she was afraid of it being haunted, who would live in the vacated palace? Now the haunting was limited to the Ciqing Palace, and no one knew that the maids and eunuchs serving in the Ciqing Palace were sealed up. Once Empress Zhang moved, everyone would know about the haunting.

The emperor had good dignity and would never allow such a thing to happen.

As Lu Heng should: “This official will follow the order. If the emperor has no other orders, I will take her to see the empress.”

The emperor nodded and motioned for Lu Heng to go on his own. After Lu Heng said goodbye, he took Wang Yanqing out of the Dongnuan Pavilion. Except for the first glance, the emperor and Wang Yanqing did not have any communication.

Wang Yanqing didn’t say a word. She thought to herself that the Lu family and the palace were close. Why did she have no impression of the emperor at all, and why did the emperor seem to be completely unfamiliar with her? But Wang Yanqing thought in a flash that she was adopted after her Second Brother’s family came to the capital. At that time, Xing Monarch had already become the emperor, and the Lu family could no longer go in and out of the palace like in Anlu, so she was estranged from the palace, which was completely understandable.

Wang Yanqing felt that this guess was very reasonable. She found a reason for Lu Heng without the slightest doubt in her heart. She walked out of the Qianqing Palace with Lu Heng and walked down the white marble steps. People came and went in front of the Qianqing Palace, and from time to time eunuchs led officials past. After leaving the Qianqing Gate and entering the Jingyun Gate, they were between walls, and their surroundings were cleared.

Lu Heng made sure that there was no one else in sight, then he took a step behind and said in Wang Yanqing’s ear: “You will go to the Ciqing Palace in a while. Just say that you are the female guard of the Lu residence and were ordered to protect Empress Zhang. Don’t mention superfluous things.”

Wang Yanqing nodded solemnly. Lu Heng lowered his eyes and glanced at her tight little face silently, feeling amused in his heart. She thought that Lu Heng was afraid of another incident, so he didn’t let her claim that she was the adopted daughter of the Lu family, but she didn’t know that it was because the Lu family had no adopted daughter.

However, the relationship between Empress Zhang and Lu Heng was delicate. The less she knew the better and she may as well continue to misunderstand. Lu Heng didn’t explain and continued: “Staff from South Fusi are just outside the Ciqing Palace, if I’m not here, find someone named Guo Tao outside the door, and ask him for anything you want. In addition to the sentry outside, there are several hidden stations around the Ciqing Palace. I am afraid that it will affect you, so I will not tell you where they are. You just need to know that their secret signals are through bird calls. If you hear any bird calls, remember to pay attention to the length and height.”

Lu Heng told her what the number of times and the length of the calls meant, and Wang Yanqing carefully made note. The closer they got to the east, the more dignified the air became. The palace maids and eunuchs lowered their heads and walked in a hurry, without the slightest smile on their faces. Lu Heng pointed to the palace complex covered with green glazed tiles in front, and said: “That is the East Palace.”

The Ciqing Palace was on East Road of the palace. It was reasonable enough to be the residence of the prince, but there were two empresses in this dynasty, and it was not good to treat either one badly. Anyway, the emperor had no heirs, so he let Empress Zhang live in the Ciqing Palace.

As soon as Wang Yanqing stepped into the gate of the Ciqing Palace, she felt the atmosphere was depressed. Everyone looked like they were in a trance and had lost their minds, and they would be startled by the slightest disturbance. When the servants of the Ciqing Palace saw Lu Heng, they were not surprised at all, and bowed down and greeted: “Master Lu.”

Lu Heng asked: “Where is the empress?”

“The empress dowager has just drank her medicine and is recuperating in the warm pavilion.”

Lu Heng nodded and took Wang Yanqing to the warm Pavilion. It was already spring, but Empress Zhang still wore a Zhaojun Set on her forehead. Her face was white with yellow, there were heavy shadows under her eyelids, and her complexion was very poor. When she heard someone coming in, she just lifted her eyelids lightly and said listlessly: “It’s you. You made such a big battle yesterday, and it was useless in the end, why are you here again today?”

|| The Zhaojun Set (昭君套) is a headdress worn by women in ancient China. It consists of a strip of fur around the forehead and is open at the top providing access to a bun. In the past, elder women would wear this in winter.

Lu Heng didn’t care about Empress Zhang’s accusations at all. He greeted Empress Zhang and said with a good temper: “It is I who is not strong enough to guard, please forgive, Empress. Tonight, I will personally guard outside the Ciqing Palace, so the empress can feel at ease.”

Lu Heng respectfully observed proper etiquette, but it seemed that Empress Zhang was making trouble unreasonably. Empress Zhang couldn’t trust anyone in the palace now. Lu Heng was sent by the emperor, who knew what they were hiding.

Empress Zhang showed little interest and said: “If you eat the emperor’s salary, I also can’t control you. Whatever you want to check, go outside and attend to it. Don’t stand in front of my eyes, it is an annoying sight.”

Empress Zhang was probably the only one who dared to scold the Imperial Guards in their presence for causing trouble. Wang Yanqing sighed in her heart, Empress Zhang was so arrogant, it was no wonder Second Brother couldn’t do anything. With this attitude, how was she going to investigate the case?

Lu Heng responded with a smile and a very good attitude. Lu Heng didn’t care about Empress Zhang’s face. He turned to Wang Yanqing who was behind him and said: “I know that the empress was frightened last night, and I came here today to apologize. This is a female officer whom I especially found. She used to practice in Qiyunshan when she was young. She studied under the descendants of Master Zhang Tian and is familiar with the art of yin and yang. If she was with the empress, she would definitely be able to dispel the evil and keep the empress sleeping peacefully.”

Wang Yanqing had been very cautious since entering the palace, and kept her face down the whole time. Fortunately, she did not reveal the expression on her face.

Wang Yanqing was quite shocked in her heart. Didn’t she agree to let her enter the palace in the name of the Lu family’s guard, why did Second Brother still make something new up on the spot? Moreover, what Lu Heng said was so good that Wang Yanqing almost suspected that she had indeed been practicing Taoism in Qiyunshan before she lost her memory.

Ever since Empress Zhang met the ghost, she had already found a Taoist monk and asked for a peace amulet and a Buddha statue, but it was of no use. After hearing Lu Heng’s words, Empress Zhang looked up at Wang Yanqing. After seeing Wang Yanqing’s appearance and figure clearly, Empress Zhang couldn’t help showing contempt.

What ability could such a young half-hearted person have, but it was better than nothing. Empress Zhang waved her hand and let Wang Yanqing stay.

Wang Yanqing stepped forward to greet Empress Zhang. With her greeting, she raised her eyes and quickly scanned the scene before her.

Empress Zhang sat on a red sandalwood lotus-patterned throne in the middle, leaning on the armrest as if exhausted. Her right hand was in front of her brow bone with fingers encased in long finger guards, covering most of her face. A woman was standing behind Empress Zhang. She was wearing a blue and purple collar, and her face was that of someone around thirty-five, but she kept a straight face, looking more than ten years older than her age. There were also some palace ladies standing around the throne. They were wearing ordinary palace coats and skirts, their faces were pale, their eyes were frightened, and they all lowered their heads.

|| Finger Guards (护甲套) were long metal sheathes commonly worn on the fingers of empresses and concubines in the Qing Dynasty. They treasured their nails and wearing a Finger Guard would help prevent cracking and splitting.

Wang Yanqing just took a glance before withdrawing her gaze and stood back behind Lu Heng with a low brow, pleasing to the eye. Empress Zhang had trouble eating and sleeping for several days, and she was very short-tempered. Lu Heng saw that Empress Zhang was impatient, so he sent Wang Yanqing to her, and did not stay in front of Empress Zhang to make trouble and quickly retired.

Wang Yanqing sent Lu Heng out and followed him all the way just now. Wang Yanqing didn’t think there was any difference between the palace and the family. Now that Lu Heng was about to leave, she finally felt a little flustered. Lu Heng was not at ease either. As he walked out, he whispered to Wang Yanqing: “I will be patrolling the palace tonight, although I can’t come in to see you, I am outside the wall. If you are in danger, call out, and I will come in and find you immediately.”

Of course, Wang Yanqing wanted Lu Heng to stay, but with Lu Heng’s position, he didn’t need to patrol in person. She hesitated a little, and whispered: “Second Brother, you didn’t rest much last night, and you’re staying tonight, isn’t it too hard?”

Lu Heng shook his head: “I’m fine. I worry about you being alone in the palace, anyway, I won’t be able to sleep when I leave the palace, so I might as well watch you here. Empress Zhang has been frightened recently and should have no energy to trouble you. After she falls asleep, you can find someone to ask questions at will, mainly to inquire about the relationship in the Ciqing Palace. If you finish asking around, don’t take initiative. Come out and find me first. If I’m not here, go to Guo Tao.”

Wang Yanqing knew that she should persuade Second Brother to go back, but she was still no match for his selfishness and nodded in response. As long as she thought that Lu Heng was outside, Wang Yanqing immediately felt at ease. She stopped in front of the Ciqing Palace, smiled at Lu Heng, and said: “Second Brother, I’m fine, go and do your business.”

Seeing her standing at the door alone, Lu Heng really regretted it, he shouldn’t have agreed with her yesterday. Lu Heng said: “There are many people in the palace, you should go back first.”

Wang Yanqing shook her head: “Now you are the commander and I am the guard. How can you let me go first? Second Brother, you go, I’ll see you off from here.”

When it was over, Lu Heng regretted it even more. He glanced at Wang Yanqing lightly, said nothing, turned, and walked out. Wang Yanqing watched Lu Heng go away, and saw with her own eyes that he approached a group of Imperial Guards. The Imperial Guards were talking, but they immediately stood upright when they noticed that he was approaching. Lu Heng turned his back to Wang Yanqing and she couldn’t see what Lu Heng said, but soon, the Imperial Guards separated and walked in different directions.

Only then did Wang Yanqing return to the Ciqing Palace with confidence. After she turned around, Lu Heng, who was talking with his back to Wang Yanqing, turned his face slightly, and his eyes fell silently in her direction.

Lu Heng looked back, and Guo Tao followed his gaze. He had noticed this woman a long time ago. It was her who interrogated Zhao Huai last time. He didn’t expect the commander to bring her again this time. Full of curiosity, Guo Tao quietly asked: “Commander, where did you recruit the female spy, why haven’t we seen her before?”

Lu Heng looked back and glanced at him coolly: “Aren’t you busy?”

Guo Tao was immediately solemn, paid his respect, and left. He didn’t dare to just leave, he even ran away quickly.

Wang Yanqing found that she was like a child who went to school. Before her parents left, she was crying all the time, but after her family left, she could actually handle everything.

Empress Zhang now only dared to sleep at ease during the day. When Wang Yanqing returned, Empress Zhang was already resting. Wang Yanqing didn’t have to speak in front of Empress Zhang, no doubt greatly relieved. Others in the Ciqing Palace knew that Wang Yanqing was a talented person invited by Lu Heng, so they did not dare to stop her and let Wang Yanqing go around.

Wang Yanqing did not rush to ask questions, but strolled around the palace first, and stepped forward to help when the maids were doing things. After a while, Wang Yanqing became familiar with everyone. The empress was resting inside, and the palace maids quietly knelt outside to clean the windows. Wang Yanqing helped them lift water and twist the veil, and asked while handing things: “Do you have to scrub here every day?”

“Yes.” The palace maids originally avoided Wang Yanqing, but after getting along for a long time, they found that Wang Yanqing had a kind attitude and spoke softly, and they couldn’t tell that she was sent by Master Lu. The guard put up by the palace maids unconsciously collapsed and one said: “Once in the morning and once in the evening. Aunt will punish us for not finishing it.”

Wang Yanqing sighed: “It’s so hard.”

The palace maid shook her head and said: “We are pretty good. The ones who wipe the floor are the most tired. They have to wait for everyone to finish before they can scrub, and they will wipe it for nothing if someone moves around a little. If the ground is not dry after the master comes back, they will be punished by the eunuch in charge. Recently, there are unclean things in the palace, no one dares to go out at night, and no one wants to do the work of wiping the floor.”

The palace maid started talking, and Wang Yanqing asked: “What in the world is this, why is it so rampant?”

The palace maids originally felt that talking about ghosts was very taboo, but thinking that Wang Yanqing was a Taoist, they boldly said: “It is said that it is a resentful spirit who died in the palace, because they were wronged and could not be reincarnated, they are looking for a scapegoat in the palace.”

Wang Yanqing thought this statement was strange and asked: “How do you know it’s a wronged soul?”

A round-faced palace maid seemed to want to say something, but when someone next to her pulled her clothes, she swallowed what she wanted to say and said: “Everyone in the palace says this. If it weren’t for finding a scapegoat, why bother people every night?”

Wang Yanqing saw what these maids were concealed. She didn’t hurry to ask, but instead circled: “Really? I once learned the method of transcendence with my master. You describe the appearance of the ghost in detail and maybe I can recognize what it is. If I help it do a ritual, it will be able to escape, and there will be no need to find a scapegoat.”

Lu Yan helped arrange her identity and Wang Yanqing could only follow Lu Heng’s words. The palace maids did not suspect her when they heard it, and they talked about the ghost. Wang Yanqing couldn’t hear the key information at all, so she could only stop and ask one by one: “When did it first appear?”

“At the end of last month, the empress was scared and fainted.”

“Apart from the empress, haven’t you all seen it?”

The palace maid shook her head, and Wang Yanqing asked: “What about the palace maid who was vigilant that day, she didn’t even see it?”

“No.” The palace maid said, “Yuehuan was beaten for this. It was also strange, she usually sleeps very lightly, but she fell asleep completely that night. The next day Lan Yu went to call her, and after shaking for a long time, she woke up.”

Cui Yuehuan was the palace maid who kept the night watch when Empress Zhang met the ghost for the first time, while Lan Yu was the one who found Empress Zhang when she fainted the next day. Wang Yanqing listened thoughtfully. Cui Yuehuan fell asleep, and Lan Yu only appeared the next day, that is to say, only Empress Zhang knew what happened that night.

Wang Yanqing thought of Empress Zhang’s state, and she thought that if Second Brother couldn’t ask, she couldn’t either. Wang Yanqing gave up questioning them and asked sideways: “Where is Lan Yu?”

A palace maid got up to look for her, and after a while, Lan Yu came. Wang Yanqing asked: “On the twenty-ninth day, did you discover that the empress fainted?”

Lan Yu knew that the woman was sent by the Imperial Guard’s Master Lu. She tugged her fingers on the front of her clothes and nodded nervously. Wang Yanqing scanned her fingers without making a sound, and asked: “When did you find out the next day?” ”

Lan Yu thought for a while and said: “It should have been Yin Shi. It was my turn to sweep the floor that day, and I got up early.”

|| Yin Shi (寅时) is the time range between 3-5 am.

Wang Yanqing asked: Since you are in charge of sweeping the floor, how did you know that the empress fainted?”

Lan Yu pointed to the other window and said: “The window was not closed that day. When I passed by, I found the window open. I thought, wouldn’t opening the window so early wake the empress from the cold? I thought it was strange, so I took a second look, and happened to see the empress sleeping on the ground. I was startled and rushed in to call someone.”

Wang Yanqing recalled the layout of Empress Zhang’s palace. From that angle, she could indeed see the ground. Wang Yanqing asked: “When you discovered the empress, was there anything else around?”

Lan Yu thought for a while, then shook her head: “I didn’t pay attention. When I saw that the empress fainted, I was so frightened that I hurriedly called someone to help the empress without paying attention to the surroundings.”

When Lan Yu was talking, Wang Yanqing kept staring at her expression, and she didn’t find any lie for the time being. Wang Yanqing looked at the window, and sure enough, there was no trace on it. The Ciqing Palace was cleaned twice a day. After so long, any evidence had long been cleaned up.

Wang Yanqing didn’t get any effective information so far, so she had to ask about the second haunting: “What happened when the ghost appeared for the second time?”

On this topic, the palace maids knew many people, and one of the palace maids named Yu Wan said: “After the empress fell ill, she had everyone stay in the sleeping hall as soon as it got dark. But there was always work during the day, and it was too much for everyone to endure together, so Aunt Qin suggested to the empress that they should be divided into two groups, one to keep watch at night, the other to go back to sleep, and change shifts in the middle of the night. On the fifth day, it was our turn to guard during the first half of the night, and I was still aware of the things in front of me, but then I was so sleepy that I didn’t know when I fell asleep. There was a gust of cold wind blowing in the room, and I suddenly awoke from the cold. I thought it was almost time for a shift change, so I was waiting in the hall for another group of people to come. At that time, the empress and the others were asleep, and the palace was very quiet. I suddenly heard crying outside. The sound was as sharp and thin as if it was about to lose its breath. I thought it was the wind at first, but then the more I heard it, the more panicked I became, and I quickly woke them up. Then…”

When Yu Wan said this, her eyes widened and she showed a terrified expression. Wang Yanqing asked: “Then what?”

Yu Wan swallowed a mouthful of saliva and said with lingering fears: “Then as soon as I looked up, I saw a figure reflected on the window paper, with disheveled hair, and extremely scary. I was so frightened that I couldn’t take it anymore, so I hurriedly called someone, and even the empress was woken up by us. Fortunately, Aunt Qin was there at the time. Aunt Qin appeased the empress, told us not to make noise, and even took a wooden stick to open the window. It is strange to say that the shadow of the female ghost was outside not long ago, but when we opened the window, there was nothing.”

Wang Yanqing was silent, after thinking for a while, she asked: “What about the third time?”

“The third time was last night.” Yu Wan said, “We were still keeping watch as before. When it was almost midnight, there was another cry of a female ghost outside, and this time the ghost knocked on the door, which almost scared us to death. Then, the Imperial Guards came in.”

Wang Yanqing knew about this part. The Imperial Guards heard the palace maids screaming and broke into the door immediately, but the yard was empty and nothing was found. Seeing that Wang Yanqing lowered her eyes and said nothing, the palace maids thought that Wang Yanqing had thought of a way to take the ghost, and they all asked: “Fairy Chief, what can you do?”

Wang Yanqing thought to herself that she didn’t even know what Qi Yunshan looked like, how could she know how to exorcise ghosts? It was all the fault of Second Brother for this lying nonsense, and even she had to follow the lie.

But then again, why didn’t she know before that Second Brother was so good at making up lies?

|| Author’s Note:

Lu Heng: Dangerous.

|| Translator’s Note: Thank you for your patience, after a stressful week, it’s so nice to just lose yourself in a book! This chapter particularly had a lot of annotations and cultural notes, so enjoy! I am counting down the chapters until Wang Yanqing finally realizes what is happening…