Chapter 1 The Plum Blossom Alley

Long before Hu Ma began to understand these things, Plum Blossom Alley in Mingzhou Prefecture City was already bustling early in the morning.

Plum Blossom Alley was just a small lane located in the west of Mingzhou Prefecture City, with only seven or eight households living on either side.

These seven or eight households all had considerable wealth, with businesses all over the city. However, the members of their families rarely showed their faces. Instead, they kept a group of dedicated servants and managers to help manage the family businesses. Their own children did not enter the business world and did not care about worldly affairs.

Every day, they simply read books, taught their children, studied arts, and cultivated themselves, as if they were in a small, closed-off world.

Occasionally, they would interact with people from the Mingzhou Prefecture government, but they were mostly low-key and often unknown.

However, in the entire Mingzhou Prefecture City, mentioning Plum Blossom Alley actually referred to one family in particular: the Mei family, whose storefront operated as a pawnshop and whose family lived in the small courtyard behind it.

This pawnshop was also different from others. It never pawned the cotton-padded jackets and trousers of the poor, nor did it pawn gold and silver utensils, antiques, or calligraphy and paintings. It only occasionally collected old objects.

And they were all dead pledges, not live pledges.

The things they collected were strange, including spirit tablets, incense burners, copper coins, broken bowls, and even certain funerary objects. However, once they were placed in this pawnshop, they were never short of buyers. From time to time, people would come and redeem a broken bowl or an incense burner at prices that ordinary people could hardly imagine.

There were even people who specially offered high prices to ask the people in the pawnshop to help them continue their family tree or carve spirit tablets.

The prices were, of course, outrageously high, but it was said that bringing them back home could ensure peace and prevent evil spirits.

Most of the time, when there were outside visitors, they had to enter the pawnshop first and explain their intentions. Moreover, most people did not need to enter the small courtyard in the back. The matter was resolved in the front pawnshop.

But this day, early in the morning, someone hurriedly pushed a carriage with its top removed into the alley, knocked on the door in a flustered manner. The series of noises disturbed the tranquility of the alley.

A servant in green clothes took a long time to open the door, frowning and about to curse.

"Where is the Master?"

The black-robed Taoist priest who knocked on the door said busily, "Hurry, I have an urgent matter."

When the servant in green saw that it was him, he did not curse. He opened the gate and let these people into the courtyard.

The small courtyard was not large, but it had rockeries and flowing water, which were very elegant.

An old gentleman wearing a white inner robe was sitting in a wicker chair, drinking tea and waving a fan. Beside him was an ancient well. The well water was deep and clear, and there were two goldfish, one red and one blue, swimming inside.

From time to time, he would pinch a little red rice-like thing and throw it into the well, watching the fish fight for food.

Seeing the black-robed Taoist priest come in, he did not speak, but simply waved his fan. But the Taoist priest hurried over and knelt down, "Master, something has happened."

He seemed to be afraid of being scolded and quickly said, "It's the son-in-law of the Wei family of Huai'an, surnamed Zheng. This man was originally from a family in Mingzhou Prefecture. He once passed the xiucai examination. Later, he was spotted by the fourth branch of the Wei family and recruited as a son-in-law." (Xiucai: successful candidate in the imperial examination at the county level)

"Now that he has returned, he wants to retrieve the ancestral tablets, but he was suddenly haunted by a vengeful spirit in the village. This disciple's cultivation is not enough, so I can only ask the Master to come and take a look…"

"The Wei family…"

The old gentleman slowly raised his head and glanced at the topless carriage surrounded by people behind him. He looked troubled, "If it's just an ordinary evil spirit, you certainly wouldn't need to come to me. But if it's troublesome, our place is a branch hall, only responsible for distributing blood offerings to the masters…"

"Please, Old Master, save us…"

Hearing his words, the steward of the Wei family immediately knelt down, "My master is in critical condition. There's no other way!"

The old gentleman did not respond to the steward's words, but frowned.

The black-robed Taoist priest also said quickly, "Master, the vengeful spirit haunting him is not powerful. I can also solve it, but something went wrong."

"Last night, I was also thinking of helping him solve it, but I encountered a strange little tangguan…" (Tangguan: a minor official in charge of local affairs in the underworld)

"…I remembered your instructions, Master, and didn't dare to provoke him."

"…"

"Hmm?"

The old gentleman heard this, but his body straightened slightly. He lowered his voice and said, "What exactly did he look like?"

The black-robed Taoist priest was stunned for a moment and hurriedly described the appearance of Seventh Aunt, focusing on the unorthodox ceremonial guard.

He was actually afraid that he had misread the situation and been bluffed, making a fool of himself. But he did not expect that when the old gentleman heard his detailed description, he could not help but take a breath. He looked at him with a solemn expression and said in a low voice, "You did the right thing by not provoking him."

"Your cultivation is shallow, and you don't know the affairs of Mingzhou. The water is deep here!"

"As early as the winter months of last year, I was no longer the only tangguan in Mingzhou Prefecture."

"…"

"Ah?"

The black-robed Taoist priest was immediately stunned and quickly said, "Who came? Why didn't I hear any news? Which sect, which hall?"

"…"

The old gentleman only sighed and did not answer. He simply waved his hand and said, "Bring the person over and let me take a look."

The others quickly pushed the carriage over, showing the noble master with a dull expression on the carriage to the old gentleman. He only glanced at him briefly, and he also looked slightly worried, closing his mouth and not speaking.

"My master was only haunted by an evil spirit. It would be enough to drive it away. But yesterday night, I don't know what he encountered, but he actually stopped us and wouldn't let us save him."

The old servant had been nervous all night. Now that he had arrived in the city, he was clearly somewhat complaining. He kowtowed to the old man in Plum Blossom Alley again and said, "I beg the Old Master to save him. Is it true that there is no rule in Mingzhou Prefecture City?"

"The Old Master is a tangguan, specializing in these evil spirits. Are you really going to watch my master be harmed by an evil spirit?"

"…"

The old man with a wrinkled face and wearing a white inner robe only looked at the noble man on the carriage.

He saw that he had been haunted by the vengeful spirit for a long time. At this moment, his face was already turning blue, his eyes were staring blankly, and he would chuckle for a while, cry bitterly for a while, and then suddenly sing in a babbling voice.

"First, bring pen and ink!"

The old man did not rush to say anything. He picked up the pen and ink and drew a few strokes on his forehead, vaguely outlining the shape of a simple talisman.

The noble master suddenly opened his eyes, his eyes slightly clear. He quickly put on an anxious and panicked expression, but before he could open his mouth to say anything, he suddenly closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

Only then did he turn to look at the old servant and slowly shake his head, "Although I am only in charge of distributing incense, I am not afraid of them. It's just that you don't know that Mingzhou Prefecture City is different from before."

"Last year, there was a green-clad ghost that caused a great disturbance. But a master expert beheaded the evil spirit here and established rules. Since then, who would dare to act recklessly again?"

"…"

In fact, he certainly understood that beheading the green-clad ghost was nothing.

Knowing that the green-clad ghost was working for the noble from the Meng family, he dared to behead the green-clad ghost. Moreover, after beheading the green-clad ghost, he scared the noble from the Meng family so much that he didn't even set up his ceremonial guard and left overnight. That was what was frightening.

However, he certainly would not tell a servant of the Wei family such secrets, lest he unwittingly bring some disaster upon himself.

Slowly sighing, his gaze swept over the black-robed Taoist priest kneeling beside him, seemingly with some reproach. He shook his head again and said, "As for the tangguan you encountered, some people noticed him earlier, but they didn't know his origins or background…"

"Now that he has appeared, he must have been appointed by that expert."

"And that noble person has been hiding in Mingzhou Prefecture City for who knows how long, not caring about anything. But now he suddenly sends someone over to prevent us from saving your master, then we…"

He became more and more worried, sighed, "If we insist on interfering, wouldn't we be asking for trouble?"

"This…this…"

The old servant was already sweating on his forehead from anxiety, and his expression was somewhat unbelievable. After a long time, he suddenly raised his head and looked at him with some disrespect, "Is the son-in-law of the Wei family of Huai'an going to be killed by such a vengeful ghost in Mingzhou Prefecture City?"

The old man in Plum Blossom Alley heard this, but only slowly shook his head and sighed, "Everyone has their fate…"

"Don't even members of the imperial family die from colds?"

"…"

As soon as these words came out, not only was the old servant surprised, but even the black-robed Taoist priest was surprised.

He encountered the strange little tangguan last night and knew that something was wrong. Therefore, he was clever for once and ran back.

He originally thought that if he couldn't do anything, his master would always have a way, right?

But who would have thought that his master, who had always been friendly to others, especially to the aristocratic families and the government, would be so resolute and indifferent this time?

It was indeed troublesome that this noble person was haunted by a vengeful spirit, but he believed that his master would have a way. But now, he was actually directly unwilling to care, and even said things like "everyone has their fate," which was clearly an excuse to shirk responsibility?

The atmosphere became extremely oppressive because of this sentence.

In a dead silence, the old servant was stunned, but he didn't know what he was thinking. Suddenly, he gritted his teeth fiercely and said in a low voice, "The son-in-law cannot die!"

The people next to him were all stunned and looked at him, their eyes already showing some displeasure.

As a servant, even a servant of the Wei family, it was somewhat disrespectful to suddenly say these words.

"The son-in-law cannot die."

But the old servant seemed unaware of the dissatisfaction in the eyes of the people around him, and his expression became serious. He said in a low voice, "Perhaps the tangguan doesn't know yet, but my master's return this time is not just to clean up the ancestral house and pay respects to his parents. In fact, in fact…"

As he spoke, he seemed to be under some pressure, as if it involved some secret matter.

After a slight hesitation, he said, "In fact, he is here to retrieve the ancestral tablets and then go to Huai'an Prefecture to take office."

"Our Wei family has already secured him a position as a county magistrate in Liyuan County, Huai'an Prefecture. The date has been set for him to go to take office. Now, at this juncture, he is suddenly haunted by a vengeful spirit. How can this matter end well?"

"…"

"What?"

Hearing these words, the old man's face changed slightly, and he looked at him in disbelief.