A higher official's authority can crush anyone!
Watching Fu Niang kneel outside the door for a day and a night, I felt an unspeakable sadness in my heart, and could only sit dejectedly in my study.
That young man also had backbone and honestly went to join the army. Fu Niang caught a high fever from the rain and fell into a coma for more than ten days, remaining unconscious. My wife scolded and hit me, and I felt like the sky was falling.
That was my daughter!
I told myself secretly, if Fu Niang could safely get through this ordeal, I would agree to anything she wanted.
Perhaps heaven responded to my expectations, and Fu Niang woke up safely.
But after she woke up, she refused to speak to me, which made me feel even worse. I knew the reason why.
I wrote a letter to that young man. If he could achieve merit on the front lines, then I would have a reason to break off the engagement and marry Fu Niang to him.
Since that young man left, my superior had been frequently urging me to set a wedding date. When Fu Niang learned of this, she was willing to cut her wrists to harm herself, delaying the wedding, all to wait for that young man to return.
I felt both sad and happy. Every month, I bought Fu Niang the latest clothes. Although Fu Niang accepted the gifts I gave her, she still refused to speak to me.
Until by chance, the fabric shop made a mistake and sent unfinished fabric to the manor. My daughter was overjoyed to receive the fabric. After several years, she finally spoke a word to me:
"Thank you, Father, for giving me the red cloth!"
My heart was filled with confusion and joy. I couldn't help but ask her, "Why weren't you happy when Father gave you clothes before, but now you're so happy just because I gave you a piece of red cloth?"
Fu Niang told me, "With this piece of red cloth, I can sew my own wedding dress. When that young man returns, I can wear this dress to marry him."
They say a daughter grows up and leaves home. I originally thought this saying wouldn't apply to me, but at that moment, I realized that I, Fu Weiwen, was also just an ordinary person in this world.
I was happy for a long time then, thinking about breaking off the engagement with my superior's family. But if I did that, hundreds of people in my Fu family might die without knowing why. So, I also learned to wait for that young man to return and marry her, just like Fu Niang.
But in the end, I never waited for that young man to return. What returned was a coffin.
However, the city was spreading rumors that I had climbed onto the powerful and poisoned that young man to death.
That day, it was raining. My daughter, wearing the wedding dress she had sewn herself, hugged the young man's corpse in the heavy rain and jumped into the river.
My heart was like a knife, but I could only watch from the doorway, afraid to move an inch. My superior had sent people to guard the entrance of our home. If I dared to make any rash moves, all hundreds of people in my family would die.
In this life, some people become the face, some become the substance, and I became a pawn, caught between a rock and a hard place.
After my daughter jumped into the river, my wife returned to her maiden home and never contacted me again. I was also deliberately framed by my superior, falling into a vortex of events, losing my official position, and lingering on, observing the world and contemplating my life.
I really want to know, if I had resigned from my post back then, taken my daughter and fled to a distant land, and married my daughter to that young man, would the outcome have been different?
I lay on the chair and thought for many years, but could not come to a conclusion.
Am I going to die? Is this what people call a life flashing before one's eyes?
Heh...
Perhaps if I could start over, the high officials and noble ranks, the power and wealth of this world, would not be as important as your happiness.
Fu Niang, Father was wrong!
As his consciousness blurred, the old man saw his daughter transform into a vengeful spirit, and his heart ached.
But his life was already at its end. He desperately wanted to do something for his daughter, but what could he do?
Perhaps if he could start over, power and wealth would not be as important as his daughter calling him "Father" or her laughter.
Heaven! Please give me a chance to atone!
"Daddy, I want to eat candied hawthorns."
"Daddy, I don't want to marry someone I don't know."
"Daddy, I beg you to let him go! I know I was wrong!"
"Daddy, look how long I've been sewing this wedding dress, isn't it time to prepare the dowry!"
The old man's soul felt like it was falling into an abyss, and a voice echoed in his mind: "Your wish is granted, but your life will be the price."
"Alright," the old man closed his eyes.
He was born at the end of the previous dynasty, grew up during the warlord era, and walked in the land of Zhonghua Longguo.
Chen Jiuyang's dark Yan Sheng blade in his hand gradually began to glow.
Yan Sheng, not killing, killing is protecting life.
Chen Jiuyang struggled to open his eyes, feeling a surge of power from the Yan Sheng blade.
Fu Niang's ghostly aura was roaring around her.
Fu Niang trembled and said, "You should leave. I can no longer control the ghostly aura within me."
Xu Qingji cursed inwardly, "Damn it, I wish I could leave, but look, there are three people here, and you've already severely injured all three of them."
Fu Niang let out a mournful cry, and waves of ghostly aura began to erode her body, turning her into a fierce ghost.
Just the aura alone inspired fear. Xu Qingji and Lu Qingrao's faces showed despair, and they managed to utter a few words with difficulty:
"Fierce ghost..."
Xu Qingji sighed, "I never thought that I, Xu Qingji, who has roamed the jianghu for decades, would fall today."
"However, to witness such a tale of love and hate is not in vain for this journey."
"No..."
Chen Jiuyang staggered to his feet, gripping the faintly glowing Yan Sheng blade, and shouted, "Suppress Evil!"
The Three Revolutions Pure Yang power within Chen Jiuyang erupted to its fullest. He swung the Yan Sheng blade at Fu Niang, but it did not harm her body. Instead, it severed the yin energy and resentment from her.
With all the resentment and yin energy removed from Fu Niang, her appearance rapidly aged. Her voice was filled with sorrow, "Young Master Chen, do you think my life's destiny was already predetermined?"
"...I don't know," Chen Jiuyang shook his head.
Fu Niang looked up at the night sky, "Perhaps I already knew the outcome in my heart."
"Maybe it was just my stubborn self that refused to accept it, refusing to believe in fate.
For so many years, I didn't know when I would finally give up.
It's good to live, and I also want to know what the end of the world is like, that makes people so battered and struggling so hard."
"Mr. Chen, I also wrote a letter to the Postal Service. If you have time, please help me destroy it."
"If I had stopped him from joining the army back then, and we eloped from Suzhou and Hangzhou, would we have lived a happy life, having children?"
"We would lie under the grape trellis, watching our children grow up..."
"It's raining. Ah, the day I met him, it was also raining..."
She closed her eyes slowly, with a smile.
She longed for that person to hold onto her year after year, refusing to let her fall into eternal slumber...
Alas, they were all gone, and her living had no more meaning.
"Young Master Chen, you must be careful of the Eastern Japanese demons. There are many like me in Suzhou and Hangzhou."
"Alright."
Chen Jiuyang returned to the ruins once more and searched for a very, very long time.
He found the letter left by Fu Niang.
After searching for a long time, he finally found that letter.
There were only a few lines of text on the envelope.
To my husband, Wang Juyuan:
This is the seventeenth year. The meat buns in Chengnan Fang are still as delicious as ever. The bookstore where we went changed its owner. The shop where you bought me jewelry is still there, but the owner no longer recognizes me.
I remember the umbrella you gave me; I've mended it and it's still usable. That jade hairpin is our token of love; I've kept it very well.
My life is very difficult now, so when you are resurrected, you must work hard to earn money and take good care of me!
I miss you dearly, but my benefactor instructed that after you were sealed in the jade coffin, it should not be opened again, otherwise, your soul would be scattered. Only when you have enough Yang energy and your breathing recovers can you come out.
Perhaps by the time you come out, I will no longer be in this world, so I leave this letter, hoping you will see it.
If I am no longer here, I hope you will marry someone else, treat her with utmost respect, and love her well in my stead.
You say what's so good about me that you're willing to risk your life on the front lines?
Your wife, Fu Niang.
At the end of the letter, there were a few smudged ink drops.
Seeing the smudged ink drops, Chen Jiuyang's shoulders trembled slightly, and he could no longer hold back his emotions.
"Eastern Japanese!"
Killing intent flared in Chen Jiuyang's eyes.
Wang Juyuan died at the hands of the Eastern Japanese. Fu Niang was also controlled by Eastern Japanese demons for decades. Now, hearing from both of them, the hauntings in Suzhou and Hangzhou were orchestrated by the Eastern Japanese.
The weakness of the Six Doors, the rampant behavior of the Eastern Japanese in Suzhou and Hangzhou, the trafficking and smuggling in Suzhou and Hangzhou were all also the Eastern Japanese. The strangeness all over Suzhou and Hangzhou had the shadow of the Eastern Japanese.
It seemed that the Eastern Japanese had a grand scheme in Suzhou and Hangzhou. He had to make a trip to the Eastern Japanese to uncover the truth.
Otherwise, his regrets would never be appeased!