After finishing the letter, Wang Juyuan's phantom image's eyes were red and tearful. He silently wept as he carefully folded the letter, placed it in an envelope, and had someone take it to be mailed.
Only after seeing the envelope leave with the Post Office's horse did Wang Juyuan lean back against the tent powerlessly, gazing in the direction of Suzhou and Hangzhou.
A smile graced his face, his pupils gradually dilating, his breathing weakening, his lips feebly murmuring:
"Fu Niang, I miss..."
He stared in the direction of Suzhou and Hangzhou, and then breathed his last.
Chen Jiuyang felt his body hollowed out and couldn't help but close his eyes. He hadn't expected using his divine soul to manifest his intentions to be so draining. It would be best not to use this ancient method lightly in the future.
A moment later, he heard soft sobs, followed by a mournful cry:
"Wang Juyuan, I will not accept your divorce letter! You promised to marry me!"
Fu Niang's cries were laced with pain and longing.
Chen Jiuyang closed his eyes and pondered.
Sixty years, separated by yin and yang, without meeting or speaking. Fu Niang was willing to endure sixty years for him, and he had also rushed to the front lines for her, just to win a future.
If he could, why would he have written a divorce letter?
She was the girl he had loved his entire life since he was young.
He was just an ordinary messenger, not understanding the emotions involved.
Does true love exist in the world, worthy of the living to miss, and causing the dead to linger with obsession?
Perhaps, it existed before him.
"Wuwuwu~"
Fu Niang's face showed an expression of extreme pain, and the surrounding ghostly energy suddenly intensified, surging towards Fu Niang's body. However, the ghostly energy could not penetrate her.
For a time, the ghostly energy filled the entire courtyard, darkening the sky. Fu Niang also seemed to be transforming into a true malevolent ghost.
Her face was once again shrouded by the ghostly energy, her fingernails grew wildly, long and sharp, and a chilling, terrifying aura emanated from her entire being.
Lu Qingrao's expression changed drastically: "This is bad! She's lost control of her emotions and cannot control the ghostly energy within her. She's being eroded by it and has no reason left! Xu Qingji, do you have any talismans left?"
Xu Qingji's face was also grim: "If I had any, I wouldn't need you to talk nonsense."
Lu Qingrao's face turned pale. What could be done now? A malevolent ghost approaching the level of a fierce ghost was not something they, with their exhausted strength, could deal with.
The ghostly energy on Fu Niang was more potent than ever. With just one step, she reached the two of them, raising her ghostly claws and stabbing towards their hearts. Just then, a long saber blocked Fu Niang's attack.
Lu Qingrao and Xu Qingji looked up, their faces filled with shock, their eyes brimming with astonishment, thinking, 'Isn't this kid just an ordinary person?'
Chen Jiuyang blocked Fu Niang's attack with his sword and stood before them, leaving them with a slender, mysterious back.
Only then did the two realize belatedly. The phantom image that appeared before Wang Juyuan's death, they had thought it was the residual spirit and vitality of the deceased manifesting. But now, it seemed it was clearly not...
Xu Qingji came to his senses and shouted: "Chen Jiuyang, the ghost formation is this house! Demolish the house, and the ghostly energy will dissipate on its own!"
Chen Jiuyang's eyes sharpened. With a fierce strike of the long saber in his hand, he forced Fu Niang back several steps, then prepared to slash the courtyard walls.
However, the ghostly energy on Fu Niang was too dense. With a mere wave of her ghostly hand, the dense and powerful ghostly energy repelled Chen Jiuyang. Chen Jiuyang staggered back two steps, and before he could react, Fu Niang's figure had already appeared behind him.
Chen Jiuyang's hair stood on end. He instinctively used his saber to block his back. A massive surge of ghostly energy struck him. He was like a plank in a tidal wave, easily sent flying. He was smashed against the wall, coughing up blood, temporarily losing the ability to move.
"This is truly over. I never thought I, Xu Qingji, would fall here," Xu Qingji closed his eyes with regret.
...
My name is Fu Weiwen. My daughter drowned herself forty years ago. On an afternoon forty-eight years ago, I finished my official duties at the yamen as usual and prepared to go home. On the way home, I planned to buy two candied hawthorns for my daughter. However, that day, I didn't buy candied hawthorns, nor did I go straight home. Instead, I attended my superior's wine party.
Everyone praised me, Fu Weiwen. I passed the imperial examination at eighteen and entered the imperial court as a civil official. At nineteen, I married and had a child. My wife was intelligent and beautiful, and my superior favored me. I felt my future was limitless at the time.
At the wine party, my superior proposed to become in-laws. His son wanted to marry my daughter. This was entirely a good thing. I, Fu Weiwen, was just an ordinary scholar who had passed the imperial examination, while my superior's family had been established in Suzhou and Hangzhou for generations. Once my superior and I became in-laws, my official career would be smoother. Moreover, this was a matter of me marrying up.
I didn't think much of it and agreed.
My daughter was twelve years old at the time. After hearing about the engagement, she didn't say anything.
Many years later, I realized that it wasn't a good thing, but a bad thing that led to my family's ruin.
Not long after the engagement was settled, I was promoted from an eighth-rank official to a seventh-rank official. I also entered the Donglin Academy. This was a great event. However, after only a few years, my daughter secretly told her mother that she had someone she liked. When my wife told me, I didn't take it seriously, but I did have someone investigate the background of that young man.
He was the son of an ordinary merchant, with no scholarly achievements. I didn't pay much attention to him.
When my daughter turned fifteen, she told me she hoped I could annul her engagement. I slapped her at the time: "The command of parents, the words of a matchmaker! My Fu family is pure and upright. How can a settled engagement be a joke?"
Many years later, I still remember that after being slapped by me, my daughter didn't cry. She just looked at me with red eyes and then left my study.
I turned to ask my wife what was going on. It turned out that the young man my daughter liked had passed the Xiu Cai exam at the young age of sixteen. That young man treated Fu Niang very well, which made me feel a bit of sympathy.
If possible, I also wanted my daughter to marry the person she loved. That was the daughter I had given birth to, loved, and cherished. As a father, how could I not want to see her happy?
However, how could the engagement settled with my superior be easily canceled? Not only would my Fu family become a laughingstock, but the superior's family would also be a laughingstock. The consequences were unpredictable. This matter could not be done.
I originally intended to warn the young man, to make him retreat and not pester Fu Niang, which would be bad for both families. But before I could act, my superior heard the rumors and transferred that young man to the front lines to join the army.
That day, it was raining. Fu Niang knelt outside the main gate for a day and a night, begging me to spare that young man. But could I spare him? Did I have the right to? Although I was now a sixth-rank official, my superior was a fifth-rank official.