Chapter 37 – Fourty Thousand; A Debt Collector’s Story

Imperial Concubine Lan’s blood red eyes were fixated at the blood on the floor and the black qi lingering around her body began to bellow out in large quantities, her delicate and elegant face began to slowly change into a ferocious and horrifying appearance. One moment, her shoulder jerked unnaturally and in the next moment, her neck twisted, her pallid skin suddenly sagging and then swelling, as if something was trying to dig itself out.

You Shu was bloodletting as he quietly observed Imperial Concubine Lan, then he saw a man’s face bulging out from her ear, opening his eyes and mouth, and letting out a sharp keening shriek. The interior of the ruined palace was suddenly layered with ghostly shadows and wave after wave of ominous sounds resonated throughout the space, as if the world had turned into purgatory.

Ah Da and Ah Er held their blades in their hands but there were light teeth chattering sounds coming from them. It was obvious that they were absolutely terrified. However, when the black mist touched You Shu, it immediately dispersed as if it was subconsciously trying to avoid him. Ah Da and Ah Er suddenly at peace as they subtly shifted towards the youth’s sides.

Imperial Concubine Lan appeared to be extremely hostile towards the ghostly face and wanted to forcibly press him down, but it resulted in her finger getting bitten off. The heavy Yin qi within the cold palace became even denser.

Ah Da and Ah Er stared a bit and were dumbstruck. The Seventh Wangye, the Seventh Wangye’s face, why was it growing out from Imperial Concubine Lan’s head?

You Shu didn’t feel as if anything was strange. If a ghost had wanted to become powerful, it would either engulf Yin qi or Yang qi, or something else that was similar. The Seventh Wangye must have been consumed by Imperial Concubine Lan because his body possessed the blood lineage of the Dragon Emperor, but Imperial Concubine Lan was unable to assimilate him into herself and instead, he was trying to fight for control. At the moment, he smelled the blood of the people outside and was naturally drawn outwards.

While the two ghosts strived for dominance, You Shu swiftly wrapped up his wound.

Imperial Concubine Lan and the Seventh Wangye simultaneously opened their mouths and an eerie bloodcurdling grotesque mix of a man’s and woman’s voice rang out, “Why did you stop? It’s not enough, it’s far from being enough!”

You Shu knew the risk of losing more than half his blood very well and was aware of how to minimize this risk. The crimson puddle on the floor seemed like a lot, but it was in fact not even a quarter of the blood in his body. Although his head felt a little dizzy, he was still able to prop himself up steadily. He secretly used his spirit powers to suppress his blood vitality levels (blood flow) so that he would look absolutely ashen and feeble.

“Do not be greedy. You both have many abilities and it’s likely that you have a special method of analysing blood vitality levels. My current blood vitality levels were quickly depleted dry. If I had continued, I would have died.” He wiped the droplets of blood on his wrist with difficulty and staggered on his feet as if he was going to faint. Ah Da and Ah Er hurriedly held him up, their expressions filled with anxiousness.

Imperial Concubine Lan and the Seventh Wangye could indeed identify the degree of a mortal’s blood vitality levels, but so what? What they wanted was not the drop of blood on the floor but the youth’s body. They no longer fought openly and cooperated together to envelop the youth with the black mist. Imperial Concubine Lan gave a sharp smile, “Foolish little boy, have you not heard of this before? Ghosts will always deceive people, that's why there’s a saying ‘to tell one lie after another’. If you’re currently completely weak, then why don’t you also give us the rest of your blood!”

You Shu stood in place, unmoving. Ah Da and Ah Er were prevented from stepping forward as they were pulled back by him. As soon as the black mist had wrapped around his body, it quickly burst into flames and the flaming purple sparks that flew about ignited into even more flames, causing Imperial Concubine Lan and the Seventh Wangye to let out anguished howls of pain.

“The blood was about to run out, so how was it that not even the slightest bit of Dragon’s Qi had dissipated? This is impossible!” The two ghosts surrounded by the purple flames felt confused and angry. To begin with, they could’ve absorbed the blood cleanly and then grow their powers, but now it could only be used to extinguish the fire.

They rolled around in the pool of blood continuously, producing “zizi” sounds. After a short moment, an overwhelming majority of the blood turned into black powder, wasting it for no reason. They felt incessant pain from their flesh and without waiting for the flame to be completely extinguished, they crawled on the floor and extended their tongues a few che forwards to lick it.

Teh: Che is one Chinese foot (as in the measurement) and it’s a third of a meter

You Shu’s philosophy when he attacks was “taking advantage of a sick person means to take their life”. As early as Imperial Concubine Lan’s sneak attack from behind, he was able to see through the other party’s intentions and had already laid out a trap. First, use his blood to lure her out, then catch her off guard and restrict her. Blame it on her insatiable greed of not wanting to suck the blood first but instead to take his life. Now they’re at a disadvantage, You Shu would not allow them the opportunity to retaliate and he stepped on the scarlet tongue, grinding it hard into the floor.

Purple flames raged across the top part of her tongue and slowly died out once it touched the blood on the floor. Every grind of his foot would start off a combustion which then immediately extinguishes. When all the blood on the floor had turned into black dust, the flame then spread along the root of the tongue till it reached the faces of Imperial Concubine Lan and the Seventh Wangye.

The two ghosts cried out and were rolling around while their pitiful tongue was still trampled on by the youth. They rolled around but could not go too far and could only roll a circle around the youth. It was only then that they threw away that bit of hope, one voice answering and another begging for forgiveness, promising that they would help clear the Jingzhou King’s name for free as well as help him ascend the throne.

From start to finish, You Shu’s face did not change at all and his clear eyes shone innocently as if he was only stepping on a lizard and playing a game. The more he acted this way, the more Ah Da and Ah Er felt frightened.

The innocent and guileless were often the most cold and cruel. These words were indeed correct. You Shu was an extremely dangerous person.

You Shu did not care for what the others thought, as long as his purposes were fulfilled. Seeing that the blood on the ground had already been burned dry, he then brandished a dagger to cut off the still burning long tongue and grabbed Imperial Concubine Lan by her hair. He slowly said, “We could’ve done our trade and business fairly. There was no need for you to make trouble until it became like this. Are you happy now?”

Looking at the youth currently, where could it be seen that he was weak?

“Not happy, not happy! This little one is wrong!” Imperial Concubine Lan realised that she was fooled and promptly restored her dainty appearance, her eyes filled with tears like dew hanging from peach blossoms as she pleaded, “Sir, please forgive this little one.” Fire ignited and flared out from her hair, and the Seventh Wangye was already forced back into her body. If it was not extinguished, her head would be turned into ash.

You Shu remained indifferent and continued to say, “Right now, I am the butcher’s knife and you are the fish on the chopping board. If you don’t want your soul to be turned into ashes and scattered into the wind, then you better obediently listen to me: First, swiftly clear my Master’s name; second, after clearing his name, kill the Emperor and the Crown Prince as soon as you can. Once you have accomplished these two things, I will let you go.”

“This little one will do as you command! These were originally this little one’s duties and it will certainly be taken care off! Begging Sir to please quickly let me go!” If she was not released, her head would be burned off.

You Shu then raised his hand, removing a handful of black hair from her head.

Imperial Concubine Lan immediately backed herself into a corner, with trepidation and lingering fear in her heart as she touched the bare back of her head. How could she have known that the seemingly clever and cute youth would have a sly and ruthless side to him. In particular, his expression was always flat and from time to time two little dimples would show up on his cheeks, as if he enjoyed the suffering of others, appearing to look extremely frightening.

It was no wonder the wild ghosts outside were scared of this vicious man. It turned out that a genuinely evil person would have this kind of appearance! Imperial Concubine Lan suddenly realized that it was too late to regret. To tell the truth, she didn’t want to take revenge on her enemies, rather she wished that she could run to the ends of the earth and hide. However, if she didn’t take revenge, she would not be able to eliminate her grudge and if she did not eliminate her grudge, she would not be able to reincarnate. If she went outside of the palace with her currently weak ghostly body, it would not be the other malicious spirits that would engulf her but rather, she would gradually fade away, and she was unwilling to disappear like this. Fortunately, prior to this, she was powerful and she had already engulfed all of the ghosts within the palace, otherwise, she would have been attacked from front and back at the present.

Imperial Concubine Lan thought about it and decided to earnestly help the youth as she would be able to free herself this way.

From being in an absolutely unfavourable situation to prevailing with the highest advantage in the blink of an eye, Ah Da and Ah Er couldn’t help but look at the youth with a whole new level of respect as well as be more fearful towards their counterpart.

After being done with managing the situation, You Shu waved to indicate that they should go, then he remembered something that he had to correct and said flatly, “There was something wrong with what you said, the reason why ghosts can lie so well is because they were human before their death.”

Since only a human being can deceive another human being, therefore this was why you were able to fool me? Imperial Concubine Lan was silent for quite a while, waiting for them to walk a far enough distance and only then she shook her head and let out a wry bitter laugh.

------

Next day, Yangxin Palace.

Although the Emperor was severely poisoned, he had no worries about his life, but he was like an arrow at the end of its flight. He did not know whether or not he could live until his next birthday. Imperial Concubine Xiao sat at the edge of the bed, wiping away a tear and murmuring, “The Crown Prince has not yet regained consciousness. Your Majesty must stand firm, otherwise what can we mother and son do? People in and out of the palace look at us as if we are a thorn in their sides. They can’t wait to get rid of us. A number of Your Majesty’s brothers have been urging you to establish another heir to the throne. Is it possible that the Crown Prince will not wake up?” As the words fell, tears followed after and she started to gasp for breath.

Teh: The first sentence was initially like this before I asked Blu for advice because I mixed up some words “The Emperor was extremely poisoned, though a sexual-less life would be a sorrowful one, but he was like an arrow at the end of its flight.”

The Emperor reluctantly sat up halfway and embraced his beloved concubine to his chest offering words of consolation, repeatedly promising to find a cure for the Crown Prince.

It was at this time when the sound of bells rang from outside and the ringing sound did not abate before another rose up, causing eardrums to quiver and splitting headaches. The Emperor was already unwell and this time he became even more agitated. He asked in a stern voice “What is this racket that’s coming from outside? It’s not the time and it’s unexpectedly ringing. Who is guilty of ringing it without permission?”

Imperial Concubine Xiao covered her ears and her expression was one of surprise.

A palace eunuch came in, trembling with fear as he replied, “Reporting to Your Majesty, it is the Seventh Wangye’s memorial ceremony over there, Empress Dowager niangniang had permitted a slave to toll the bell one hundred times.”

When the Emperor passes, the bell will be tolled thirty-thousand times. When a Prince passes, the bell will be tolled one thousand times. The Empress Dowager was showing an extreme amount of restraint by having it be tolled one hundred times. The Emperor had an embarrassed expression, it was clear that he had completely forgotten that he had a son who was killed by poison, as well as the funeral that was being held today.

Imperial Concubine Xiao’s expression was outwardly remorseful, but secretly she was extremely pleased with herself, it was good that he died.

Recalling that the Seventh Wangye died and that the Crown Prince was in a deep coma, the Emperor felt hatred down to the marrow of his bones towards the perpetrator of this situation. Supporting his sick body with renewed strength, he said, “Servant! Change Zhen’s clothes. Zhen wants to light a joss stick for my son. Furthermore, transmit an order down, have the imperial guards bring the Third Prince to the mourning hall and kowtow for my dead son, then when the ceremony is finished, he will be given a cup of poisoned wine!”

Imperial Concubine Xiao’s face did not reveal the joy spreading within her heart. The pair held and supported each other by the arm as they arrived at the mourning hall to see the Empress Dowager and Imperial Concubine Cheng kneeling at the front, lighting joss sticks and burning joss paper. A group of Buddhist monks sat at a space outside the palace chanting scriptures. Hearing the call “His Majesty has arrived” caused the two who were kneeling to still themselves, it was clear that there was a lot of resentment in their hearts.

This situation was too suspicious and the Third Prince was convicted with capital punishment without thorough investigation. If you dig down into the bottom of this, it wasn’t necessary for the Third Prince to kill his father, the Emperor, and his brothers. He was exiled for ten years. He did not have a lot of support and also had poor connections. Even if all the damned people were dead, it still wouldn’t have been his turn to ascend the throne. It would have been better for him to lay low in Jingzhou and slowly plot out a scheme without any hurry.

Therefore, the Empress Dowager absolutely did not believe that the Third Prince was a murderer and she also did not believe that the Crown Prince was poisoned into a coma, but because of the Emperor’s current frailty, it was not good to start an argument with him. When the funeral was over, she would investigate until the truth came to light. As for the Third Prince, there was nothing she could do to change the situation.

The mourning hall was filled with a thick scent of incense ash, and the Emperor coughed after breathing it in. He walked to the front of the hall holding three joss sticks, and as he prepared to light them a number of imperial guards brought in the Third Prince who was tied up with his arms behind his back. Along with them were three palace eunuchs with indistinct facial features, two of them have exceedingly robust bodies and green-blue stubble lining their jaws but not a single person found them to be strange.

“Evil creature, kneel down for Zhen!” the Emperor’s eyes were bloodshot.

The imperial guards immediately forced the Third Prince down onto his knees facing forward. Sandwiched between the two tall and strong palace eunuchs was a small eunuch whose eyes lit up with fire, taking a firm step forward but was held back by his companions. At the same time, announcements of arrivals could be heard from outside. The court ministers came in one after the other in a hurry to Xuande palace, waiting to pay their respects.

“Enter.” The Emperor raised his hand with some difficulty.

This time, it wasn’t just the small palace eunuch who was hopping mad, the two tall and strong eunuchs also stroked the daggers hidden on their body, really wishing that they could cut down this dog of an Emperor. Making the Master kneel down for an execution in front of the ministers. Even in death they would not give him a little bit of face! Having this kind of father was worse than having none!

Ji Changye had grown accustomed to this long ago. He expressionlessly kneeled on the ice-cold floor, looking utterly devastated, but in actuality, there were no emotional fluctuations in his heart. On the contrary, he had some wandering thoughts, his hollow pupils gazing into the distance as he languished in the thoughts of where You Shu could be hiding. Yesterday, after the three had left, he did not hesitate to have his men hidden within the imperial guards to seek out the youth, knock him unconscious and deliver him to a safe place. However, on the way to Xuande palace, he received a message that the people who tailed You Shu had encountered a ghost, walking round and round in a small alleyway all night before getting themselves out of that difficult situation.

This was one hold up; he did not even know where he ran off to. Even if he had broken into the Heavenly Prison, since his body was small, he probably could not even lift up a big broadsword. Thinking of this, Ji Changye’s eyebrows furrowed showing a worried look.

The ministers moved into the palace hall one after the other, they did not dare to lift up their heads to look at the Third Wangye kneeling in front. Instead, there were imperial guards stationed outside the palace who secretly stroked the hilts of their swords, their eyes flaring with murderous intent. Today, the Emperor, the ministers and the palace imperial concubines are all present. This was a good opportunity to strike.

The small palace eunuch situated between Ah Da and Ah Er also opened his eyes wide in a glare, his eyebrows were raised and his expression was fierce. He raised his head to look at the roof beam then pressed his index and middle fingers together, drawing a line against his throat and mimicking a cutting of the throat action.

The group of dark shadows curled up on the beam couldn’t help but tremble. There was a hint of evil wind in the air which blew past, causing the white cloth banners to move and the candle flames to flicker. It also caused the Emperor who was seriously ill to feel even more unwell. He once again picked up the joss sticks, lighting them up and weakly spoke, “Your seventh younger brother had always never treated you unkindly. You were gone for ten years and only he remembered you. He wanted Zhen to welcome you back, but who would have thought that a bastard like you would unexpectedly bite the hand that fed you and slaughter your own blood kin. Today, Zhen will give you a cup of poisoned wine for you to set off on a journey. Better yet, you could ask Huang Er to accompany you down to the Nine Springs.”

Teh: Huang Er literally means emperor’s child or royal child and it’s kind of just another way to say “my child”, I just couldn’t find a good replacement for it this time and I didn’t want to just replace it with “the Seventh Prince”. Nine Springs is another way of saying the underworld/hell.

So Benwang’s execution will be set in front of this crowd of ministers? As expected of Benwang’s dear ol’ dad. As Ji Changye heard those words, the corner of his mouth hooked upwards a bit into a smile.

A number of Qin Wangs that were the virtuous pillars of the imperial clans involuntarily wrinkled their brows; their expressions visibly displeased. The Emperor had always been muddle-headed, blindly indulging Imperial Concubine Xiao and now committing the foolish matter of unjustly killing his Di wife’s son. If this great and powerful Ming dynasty dating back from □□, and had been declining until the current present, was passed onto a cruel and tyrannical Crown Prince, it might be a straight path to the destruction of the nation. What could be done about this?

However, the supporters of the Crown Prince were all elated, each and everyone of them internally plotted out their own ways of helping him take the throne. Thus, this showed that regardless of whether the Crown Prince was actually poisoned into a coma or if he was able to regain consciousness, there was not one person who had any doubts that he would wake. In this large royal court, it was only the Emperor who was not able to see the situation clearly, nor did he know that he was genuinely slow-witted. He was also still unwilling to conduct an in-depth investigation.

As the Emperor opened his mouth, the small eunuch’s wide-open eyes widened even more to the point where his eyes might have bulged out of their eye sockets and he repeatedly waved towards the roof beam. What was even stranger was that his actions were clearly obvious but they did not alert anyone and none of them paid any mind to him.

When the Emperor had inserted three lit joss sticks into the copper incense pot, the shadow on the roof beam finally moved. It spiralled downwards and in an instant, the entirety of Xuande palace was completely enveloped in an upsurge of evil wind. In a split second, the main hall of the palace that was brightly illuminated by sunlight and burning candles sank into darkness. There were also the disjointed chants and shrieks that could be heard coming from all directions, making it seem like it was a scene from hell.

“What, what is this?” the Emperor’s face was as white as a sheet, his figure shaking in place. Imperial Concubine Xiao, who was supporting him by the arm, screamed and ran into his embrace.

All the court ministers frantically looked around; their faces full of fear.

The evil winds took the form of a swirling vortex, flinging people’s hats and clothes about and slamming all the windows tightly shut. “Bang, bang, bang”, the shutters of the windows each slammed shut in succession, sounding like sudden claps of thunder. More and more people’s legs started to shake, their courage crushed and their souls flew out. Is, is this a haunting?

Just as they thought about this, the memorial tablets up in the mourning hall swayed all of a sudden and dropped one after another onto the prayer cabinet table. Everyone’s hearts quivered and the bodies of the cowardly became limp, they sank down onto the floor and were unable to move.

Teh: prayer cabinet table (案台) means like one of those ancient cabinet tables/desks.

Ji Changye had never encountered the supernatural before, but anyhow, he did not feel fearful at all. As the saying goes “One who has not done deeds that weighed on their conscience would not be scared of a ghost that knocked on their door at midnight”. He did not dare to say that he had not done things that troubled his conscience in his lifetime but he had nothing to do with the Seventh Prince’s death. Even if he returned from the grave to take his revenge, the fault was not on his head.

He looked up at Imperial Concubine Xiao to see that her face was deathly pale, her lips were purple and she was clutching onto her chest as if she was about to faint at any moment. He was about to check the Empress Dowager’s and Imperial Concubine Cheng’s reactions when a small hand covered his eyes and a small mouth let out a warm breath by his ear whispering, “I am here, Master doesn’t have to be scared. There’s nothing to be worried about, after a while we will be able to go home soon.”

“You Shu?” Ji Changye was shocked at first then he felt burning anxiety. How did he enter the palace at this sort of time? How did he sneak into the heavily guarded Xuande palace? Did he not want to live? What about Ah Da and Ah Er, don’t tell me that they were not by his side protecting him?

Ji Changye immediately pulled away the palm covering his eyes and turned his head around to see You Shu in the scarlet robes for palace eunuchs, looking at him intensely. At this very moment, he wanted to grab the youth and give him an extensive unending scolding, he also wanted to hug him and cry his heart out and furthermore he wanted to chase after him to the ends of the earth.

“You……really are such a troublemaker!” He was on the verge saying all of what was in his mind but everything turned into a helpless sigh.

As a result of the camouflage, so long as You Shu did not start speaking, it would be as if they were standing in front of an acquaintance that the other party could not recognize. It was only because he feared that the Master would be scared that he threw himself onto his Master’s back to offer some comfort. Moreover, he coaxingly said, “Don’t be scared, don’t be scared, we have nothing to do with this matter, it’s fine just to observe it.”

All the ministers had already started pounding on the windows and the doors. They did not seem to be bolted shut and under normal circumstances, a light push could have opened the doors and windows but currently they were like in an impregnable iron fortress. They tried smashing a chair against it and cutting it with a broadsword until it became dull, but they were not able to pry that one narrow crack open. It goes without saying that an odd situation such as this was indeed a haunting!

“What about the monks? Chant some scriptures! Quickly chant some scriptures!” the Emperor shouted his throat sore, protecting Imperial Concubine Xiao as well as the Empress Dowager and Imperial Concubine Cheng. His already deathly pale face turned blue and under the light of the flickering candle flame, his wretched figure was revealed.

The monks were also scared out of their wits and took their sticks and had hit their mokugyos (wooden fish/wooden bell) several times, only to discover that it gave out no sound. During a religious ritual, if the mokugyos were not able to produce any sound, it signifies that the soul of the newly deceased was unwilling to move on. Even if they chanted all of the religious scriptures in the world, it would be all in vain. They could only put their palms together in prayer and have no other alternative but to say, “Amituofo.”

Teh: The below image is a wooden fish (it’s literally called a wooden fish) and if you go to a Buddhist temple there will be monks who hit this with a stick as they chant. 阿弥陀佛 = Āmítuófó is the Chinese pronunciation of Amitābha Buddha.

After the initial scare, contrary to what one might expect, it was Imperial Concubine Cheng who regained her calm first, she looked around vacantly and tearfully yelled, “Huang Er, is it you Huang Er? Have you come back to see your concubine mother? Do you have any complaints about the unjust treatments towards you? You can speak out, even if concubine mother’s body was smashed to pieces and her bones were grounded into powder, she would still want to demand justice for you!” Who said that she was weak and easy to bully? Who said that she just asks the Empress Dowager for everything? As a strong mother, if she was able to ask Huang Er to pass away in peace, she would be willing to pay any price.

The evil winds inside the palace subsided instantly and the black fog also dispersed completely. The candles on the platform where the coffin was placed upon suddenly ignited with blue-green flames that emitted a dim glow. The Xuande palace hall was becoming more and more like it was a part of the underworld.

All of the ministers simultaneously cried out in alarm. They hazily thought about it internally. As expected, there really was some injustice involved, the Seventh Prince had really come back for revenge! Some people had gradually calmed down, letting out the breath they were holding in while some people were shivering and had sweat streaming down their backs. Among them was one Imperial Concubine Xiao who was the most terrified till she lost control over her bladder.

From the roof beam, a white banner dropped down, moving on its own accord and words written in blood slowly began to appear, “Bring Ji Yongchang forward to see Benwang!”

As soon as he manifested, he had asked to see the Crown Prince. It was self-evident as to who was the murderer of the Seventh Wangye. Naturally, the ministers were in the clear but the Emperor tremblingly opened his mouth, “Huang Er, a life for a life, if you want revenge, you can directly approach Ji Changye, for what reason would you want to see your older brother. He is also at death’s door and could not endure being moved around carelessly.”

More words written in blood appeared on the white banner: The incapable ruler with no principles, indulging in the behaviour of the cunning sycophant, whose crimes need not to be stated, shall be stuck by the heavens!

These were blatant criticisms towards the muddle-headed Emperor, as well as the cunning sycophant who had a hand in his tragic unjust death. He had come back on behalf of the heavens to exterminate the incapable ruler and the cunning sycophant.

Huo, he wouldn’t even let father go, just how big was his resentment? The ministers erupted into an uproar and the Emperor was repeatedly spitting blood.

Teh: Hi it’s me again, Blu said it was dumb to have Huo = ho-ho and so I’m here to explain that it just is an expression of someone laughing in surprise. >:3

You Shu had long ago pulled his Master into a corner, softly patting him on his back and murmuring, “See, I’ve said earlier that this matter has nothing to do with us.”

“Indeed, it really has nothing to do with us, but you entered the imperial palace as you pleased. After we return, you must definitely give me an explanation!” Ji Changye firmly held the youth to his chest, untying his robe and wrapping him up tightly with it, fearing that the evil winds will harass him.

You Shu immediately buried his face into his Master’s chest and did not dare to say another word. Regarding the matter of controlling ghosts, in no way would he be able to inform the other party about it because he was afraid that he would be feared and alienated.

In the hall, the Emperor and Imperial Concubine Xiao were both enraged and fearful, and were momentarily speechless. The Empress Dowager was also at a loss. The grandson wanted to kill her son. She did not know who to side with and could only stay silent. On the contrary, Imperial Concubine Cheng - who was completely unyielding - waved her sleeve and reprimanded, “Why are you all in a daze doing nothing? Hurry and bring Ji Yongchang here!”

The imperial guards lining the interior of the closed off palace all showed hesitant expressions. The person who took the lead secretly looked at the Jingzhou King and once he received his signal he saluted and accepted his orders.

What was also strange was that when the guards steadfastly walked to the front of the palace door, which did not open no matter what, it unexpectedly creaked wide open, allowing them to smoothly pass through. A few ministers who were afraid for their lives tried to take advantage of it by following behind the line of soldiers, and just as they were about to step beyond the threshold of the doorway, they were wrapped up in a cocoon of black fog and were fiercely pulled back, colliding with the pillars and coughing out a mouthful of blood, their appearances were utterly miserable.

This punishment was to set an example for everyone else and immediately dispelled all thoughts of escape. Looks like the Seventh Wangye wants to confront the Crown Prince in the presence of the ministers. Justice was determined by power, but now, justice was in the hands of a ghost. Who dared to abuse their power now? Who dared to exercise their might? It seems that if they disregarded the Seventh Wangye’s demand, then the next moment their souls might return to the heavens, and once they reached the Yellow Springs, they will still have to receive another round of torment.

After all the living can’t fight the dead! The ministers all wiped away the cold sweat on their foreheads. They already understood whose side they should be on.

Translators Notes:

Teh: So this is a small thing but I wrote “black qi” because I couldn’t exactly pinpoint what the author wanted to describe it as since it could’ve easily also been translated as “black air” or even “black smoke” but since Lan’s a ghost I decided to follow Blu and wrote it as qi instead.

鬼话连篇 is an idiom which means to “tell one lie after another” and in it is 鬼话 which means lies/nonsense also literally means ghost words/writing/language while from my understanding 连篇means page after page so it could all together literally mean ‘page after page of ghosting writing’. So, it was like a play on words which I thought was pretty cool at least that was my interpretation of it.

It might be some time before I translate another chapter because TAB is pretty hard to translate well and I’m currently doing another thing for novel wars so stay tuned *fingers guns*

Blu: I changed the ‘yellow-haired little boy’ to ‘foolish boy’. And sorry for the late update guys. We had exams and one of my courses got postponed (I just finished intensive courses for that on Friday). I haven't finished the last assignment for that course and now I'm falling sick.

F*ck 2020.