The Princess Wei Yang

Li Xiaoran had ordered that no one speak of that night’s incident, but among the servants, a rumor started spreading that Da Furen was seriously ill, due to fright from the spirits haunting her courtyard. Originally, this type of supernatural explanation would be fodder for much gossip, and would also be a perfect cover-up for the truth. With so many Yatous and Mamas around, those who knew the truth did not dare to speak out, and those who didn’t know had to make blind guesses, adding fuel to the fire. When Li Min De told Li Weiyang about this, she was feeding her pet birds. She turned around to look at him. “What? They’re saying that Da Furen has been possessed?” “Yes, they’re saying that Da Bomu is constantly paranoid, hiding in her rooms every day and refusing to come out.” Li Min De did not know to laugh or cry, returning Li Weiyang’s gaze. “She has been talking to herself, requesting for a priest to perform exorcism. She refused to see the physician when he came. I bet she’s inches away from insanity, and if she really is crazy, she’ll be a perfect companion for Wujie. But honestly, she is already considered blessed; with all that had happened, she still managed to escape death.” Li Weiyang smiled. “Fuqin and Lao Furen would not let her die just like that; if she suddenly died, how is Fuqin supposed to deal with the Jiang Family when they come to our door, demanding for an explaination? So they’ll hire a physician to take care of her; she’ll live well, take her medications and rest, but when it’s her turn to die, it’ll be her release.” Li Min De understood the hidden meaning in a flash, and he suppressed a smile. “Sanjie, you understand Da Bo Fu’s thinking the best.” If you have spent half of your life studying someone, you would definitely understand, but Li Weiyang did not speak out her thoughts. She not only understood Li Xiaoran, but Da Furen as well. She was stubborn and competitive, with an enormous flaw; she loved to be in control. Da Furen wanted to have everyone playing in the palm of her hand, and if anybody fought against her will, she would not hesitate to crush the person. Her overbearing nature was exactly why so many people had died in the Li Residence. In truth, Da Furen was of noble birth, with a strong family backing her up. If she had behaved like a proper matriarch should, she wouldn’t have to suffer as she did now; because the other sons any concubine would have had could not threaten her position in the family, but she chose to be such a tyrant! Li Xiaoran was indeed hurt badly by Da Furen this time, and if not for the Jiangs, she wouldn’t have survived. So Li Weiyang only smiled as a form of reply, not saying a word.  Li Min De just opened his mouth, but caught sight of Bai Zhi hurrying in. She curtseyed. “Xiaojie, Wei Guo Furen is here for a visit.” Wei Guo Furen? Li Weiyang arched her brows; she wouldn’t have bothered to visit if she hadn’t heard rumors. She thought for a moment. “Lao Furen will deal with her, no need to worry.” The moment Wei Guo Furen arrived, she made for Da Furen’s courtyard hurriedly, but was blocked by the guards at the door. Furious, she rushed to He Xiang Yuan, where Lao Furen insisted that her daughter-in-law was resting and recuperating. Wei Guo Furen refused to give up, pestering Lao Furen to allow her to visit. With Lao Furen ignoring her pleas, Wei Guo Furen was helpless and could only leave. However, she wasn’t one to give up so easily. She returned every other day to kick up a fuss, demanding to see Da Furen. Today, Li Weiyang was in He Xiang Yuan, serving Lao Furen her medicine when they heard Wei Guo Furen arriving. Losing her appetite, Lao Furen slammed the bowl heavily on the table. “Hng, why is she here again.” “Lao Furen, don’t worry. Since Wei Guo Furen wants to visit Muqin, we’ll just have to allow her to. It’ll be fine.” Li Weiyang answered with a smile. “If she sees how that woman is like now, she’ll definitely accuse the Li Family of mistreating her older sister! Not only should we keep her from seeing her, but not a whisper of gossip should escape!” “We can’t keep it a secret for long, so rather than being so stubborn, we’ll let her see for herself. However, we can decide what we want her to see.” Lao Furen froze for a minute, lifting her head to study Li Weiyang. She thought deeply for moments and finally smiled, praising Weiyang. “Your mind is quick and sharp. Okay, you’ll make the arrangements.” Wei Guo Furen waited outside for a full 2 hours before she saw Li Weiyang coming out with an apologetic smile. “Yimu.” “Who is your Yimu!” Wei Guo Furen’s face darkened. Not a trace of unhappiness showed on Li Weiyang’s face; on the contrary, she smiled even more warmly. “Yimu is here to visit Muqin right? Aiya, what a bad timing. Muqin isn’t feeling well, she hasn’t been receiving visitors of late.” “Don’t act in front of me, be careful of what I’ll do if you try to stop me from seeing my Dajie…” Wei Guo Furen started to rage, but Li Weiyang stopped her mid-sentence with a smile. “Yimu, since you insist, we won’t stop you, so please follow me.” Wei Guo Furen was stunned, immediately assuming that she had scared Li Weiyang. She gave a cool hmph, and instructed her companions to follow. Gao Min was extremely displeased. “Muqin, how could you listen to this Xiao Yatou?!” Wei Guo Furen whispered back in a low voice. “We’ll see your Da Bomu first, at least we’ll have some evidence to bring back to Guo Gong Residence.”  Gao Min nodded. “Yes, Muqin.” Just by looking at Li Weiyang, she felt irritated, so much that even the entire Li Residence annoyed her. As they stepped into Fu Rui Yuan, Li Weiyang paused. “Yimu, please go in first.” With a proud tilt of her head, Wei Guo Furen strode to the front as the Yatous opened the doors. She was the first one through. The moment she walked into the courtyard, Wei Guo Furen did not even have a minute to take in her surroundings. Two coils of rope flew towards her on the left and right sides, with a soft ‘sou’ sound, wrapping her. She saw two little priests chanting and walking in a staggered formation in front of her; they were the ones who rendered her immobile. Wei Guo Furen was furious. “You damn dogs, what are you doing! Li Weiyang, what is going on here!” 

 

Gao Min quickly ran over, seeing that there was an altar set up in the middle of the courtyard, with an older priest behind it, eyes half-lidded and chanting loudly. He was waving a bell in one hand, and making strange gestures with another hand in front of his chest. “What are you guys doing! Let go of my Muqin!” Gao Min screamed. The priest slammed down the bell on the altar and his eyes flew open. His two disciples gave the ropes a tug in the opposite direction, tightening the binds and leaving Wei Guo Furen with nowhere to hide, uncomfortably bound. Her voice was pierced with fear. “Quick, somebody save me! Someone!” However, Zhaoyue had blocked the way of the Yatous and Mamas, so other than Wei Guo Furen and her daughter, no one was able to enter the courtyard. Li Weiyang stepped through the door and gestured gently; the priest came forward, brandishing a wooden sword in front of Wei Guo Furen, chanting. “Swift judgement from the heavens, Taishang Laojun knows my intent, all demons and spirits begone!” As he chanted, he picked up the brazier on the altar and burnt the yellow talisman, afterwards swinging the brazier in front of Wei Guo Furen. He shouted loudly, “Demons and ghosts, dissipate!” In a moment, a whole brazier full of incense ash was hurled at Wei Guo Furen. “Get away from me!” Wei Guo Furen screamed ungracefully, but she was unable to avoid it. Ash covered her from head to toe. Gao Min leaped over, smacking the little disciples. However, they were still men; she missed a step and fell onto the floor, looking especially pathetic. “All demons, reveal yourself!” He shouted again, grabbing the bowl of chicken blood on the altar and splashing it across. Gao Min was caught unaware and got drenched in it. She had never been so humiliated before, and was hopping mad. She jumped up and gave one of the disciples a tight slap. “How dare you!” Wei Guo Furen shouted, “What are you all doing? This is too much! The servants outside, are you all dead or dying, quickly come in and save me!” In a moment, Wei Guo Furen and her daughter were covered in chicken blood and incense ash, totally losing their glamour and poise as Furen and Xiaojie. In their current state, they were worse off than crazy women in the streets. Wei Guo Furen’s screams had already pierced through the roofs, alerting everyone else in the house. With a wave of Li Weiyang’s hands, Zhaoyue deftly stepped aside, letting those Yatous and Mamas rush inside. Upon seeing such a scene, they wanted to laugh, but did not dare to; they could only rush forwards to push away the two disciples, saving Wei Guo Furen. Gao Min broke into wailing sobs. “Li Weiyang, you damnable slut, you’ve landed us in this mess… how embarrassing!”Li Weiyang walked in. “Aiya, what’s going on here?! Cui Mama, Cui Mama!” Cui Mama was a servant sent by Lao Furen to watch over Da Furen, and she was strict beyond belief. She knew beforehand about Wei Guo Furen’s visit, and had arranged everything according to San Xiaojie’s instructions. Hearing Li Weiyang call for her, she hurriedly put on a panicked expression as she exited the house. “Xianzhu.” Li Weiyang pointed towards Wei Guo Furen. “Yimu is here to visit Muqin. What are you all doing, why didn’t you mention earlier that you’ve invited priests to perform rites.” Cui Mama quickly apologized. “I didn’t know Wei Guo Furen was here, it is Laonu’s fault. Just that… this priest was invited over at Da Furen’s instructions.” “That is utter nonsense! My Dajie has never believed in such hocus pocus!” Wei Guo Furen raged. Li Weiyang sighed deeply. “At this moment, if you want to know how serious Muqin’s illness is, seeing with your own eyes and hearing with your own ears is the best. Yimu, please step in and take a look at Muqin, and if you can, persuade her to recuperate properly.” Wei Guo Furen was filled with fury, and couldn’t care less about her appearance. She stormed into the house without any hesitation. In the inner chambers, heavy curtains were hanging from the windows, letting only a little light into the dim room. Da Furen lay on the bed, motionless. As Wei Guo Furen walked up, she saw that Da Furen’s cheeks were like sunken pits, her eyes bruised blue-black with fatigue, and her sculpted high cheekbones jutting sharply; she was a complete shadow of her proud and wealthy self. Wei Guo Furen knitted her brows secretly, how did she become like this. Da Furen was in a deep sleep, so Cui Mama hurried in in front of Wei Guo Furen to the foot of Da Furen’s bed. “Furen, Wei Guo Furen is here, please wake up.” As Lao Furen had rejected her so many times, Wei Guo Furen already had her doubts, suspecting that Da Furen had been grounded by them. Seeing how Da Furen was sleeping in the middle of the day, and looking so sickly, she couldn’t help but frown. “Dajie!” Da Furen jolted awake, rubbing her eyes and sitting up suddenly. Her blurry eyes scanned Wei Guo Furen for a moment, as if not recognizing her. “Dajie!” Wei Guo Furen stepped forward quickly. Da Furen fixed her stare onto Wei Guo Furen, brushing her away and flailing madly with both hands. “Don’t look for me, don’t look for me, this is not my fault, I was forced to do it. It’s all your own misfortune… Wu Yiniang please let me off, I had no other choice. I have regretted it, I’ll perform rites for you, I will make it up to you…” Da Furen started off murmuring, but suddenly kept pleading. Wei Guo Furen was completely shocked that she did not recognize her.  She was covered in blood; of course Da Furen couldn’t recognize her. Cui Mama reminded her. “Wei Guo Furen, perhaps you should clean up first, in case you alarm Da Furen.” “What do you mean alarm her, are you saying that I look scary?!” Wei Guo Furen was enraged. Li Weiyang hid her smile, watching from the sides. Wei Guo Furen grabbed Da Furen’s arm. “Dajie, did you order those people to do rites just now?”“Rites? Yes, yes it was me…” Da Furen seemed to have realized something, muttering under her breath. She nervously clutched at Wei Guo Furen. “Was the ghost caught?” “What ghost?” Wei Guo Furen was disturbed and shocked. 

 

“This courtyard is haunted! You don’t know, but every night a ghoul will crawl out to haunt people; long tongue, blood red eyes, dark hair and wearing white, it is Wu Yiniang! She has come to demand my life! It must be her… or no, it might also be San Furen. Yes, it is them for sure!” Da Furen quipped mysteriously.-------------------------------------------------Translator: JaslynnEditor: Panisa (In Progress)