Chapter 44 – Painted skin; Little Poor Evolved Ghost Sees Trouble

Note: Head Constable has been changed to Chief Bailiff. Will update prev chapters.

As the Governor was a high official, he quickly recovered from the horror. He accused the Chief Bailiff of speaking nonsense and demanded he show conclusive evidence. Everything was done verbally and there was no material evidence left. The Chief Bailiff just stood there baffled.

The Governor was quite pleased with himself and asked Magistrate Zhao to invite another coroner to examine the corpse, then he waited. Anyway, the higher-ups had already made up their minds to kill off the senior branch of the Zhao family and there was no use changing coroners. That is, unless they could find the real Sun Xique and Fang Sheng. However, the higher ups have already dispatched hidden guards to hunt and kill the both of them. It would not be long before the fake corpses could be replaced with real ones.

As soon as he finished speaking, Magistrate Zhao waved his hands and said, "Everyone is here today, so I will not invite another coroner. This official will simply bring the people before you." After speaking he clapped his hands and they saw a few people drill out of the crowd from the sidelines. They pushed a man and a woman who were tied up into the court.

"Eh? Why didn’t I realise that they’ve been standing beside me this whole time?"

"Indeed, I didn't notice even though they were tied up with rope."

The people whispered and felt that it was strange, but they did not want to look into it further, because they knew that these two people must be the actual people who had been dead for 8 days —— Sun Xique and Fang Sheng. The members of the Sun family and Fang family, who were crying so miserably and wretchedly earlier, now had pale faces and bent backs, wishing to disappear from their current location immediately.

The Governor was also shocked, wondering how the Zhao family could find them faster than the Master’s secret guards. Was it true that those two damned ghosts entered the boy’s dreams to ask for help?

Sun Xique and Fang Sheng staggered into the court, their clothes were now worn down rags and their heads and faces were stained with mud. They had a hard time in the mountains. They have been hiding for ten days to half a month, and thought that when Zhao Youshu was sentenced to exile and Magistrate Zhao was dismissed from his post and sent to the Capital, they would be able to receive a hundred taels of silver and elope somewhere else. They did not expect to constantly get hunted down and assassinated. Fortunately, the Zhao family found them in time and brought them into the city. Otherwise, the two corpses placed in the hall would have been them.

At the moment, Fang Sheng had no intention of concealing anything and wanted to reveal everything, but Sun Xique secretly pinned her hopes on the son of the Zhao family. In her heart, she felt that since he was so insistent on marrying her as his main wife even to the point of attempting suicide, he should be feeling pity for her right now. As long as she begged him and pledged herself to him, maybe she could still marry and be the main wife of an official family after the blackmail incident passed.

She thought very beautifully. She lifted her phoenix eyes slightly and looked at the young man with a delicate, pitiful look with tears in her eyes.

However, she was out of luck. The one she met was You Shu who came from the apocalypse, not the previous Zhao You Shu. The term "having tender, protective feelings for the fairer sex" had long been abandoned and replaced with "Women and children are the ones you need to guard against the most." In order to settle the matter quickly, You Shu strode over, grabbed Sun Xique’s hair bun behind her head with his left hand, and pulled open her ear with his right hand. He dragged her around in the courtroom and said, "Cinnabar mole behind the ear. Born with it. Everyone can take a look."

Poor Sun Xique was pulled along like a monkey and even cried in pain. After he let go, her ear lobe was torn and blood started dripping down. She wanted to cry but had no tears and called out, "Young Master Zhao", but the man didn't even look at her. Instead, he squatted down and raised Fang Sheng's feet, showing everyone the soles of his feet.

"Sure enough, there are three moles. He is indeed Fang Sheng!"

"There’s no need to ask further about the corpse on the ground. It must be the two who appeared in Zhao gongzi’s dreams."

"You can go to Jiaxing to check the household registers and find out whether it is them or not within three or five days."

While the commoners fervently discussed amongst themselves, they saw Young Master Zhao put down Fang Sheng’s big feet, turned around and fanned his nose, and then took the handkerchief from Magistrate Zhao, wiping his hands with it desperately, obviously disgusted by those two dirty things. Many people laughed in kindness. They felt that Young Master Zhao looked a little childish, and that he was innocent, well-behaved, and cute. How was he evil and wicked?

The people had been found and the Governor had nothing to refute. He swayed and sat back down into his original position, thinking hard about how he could get himself out of this.

Magistrate Zhao did not give him the chance. He ordered Sun Xique and Fang Sheng to write a confession letter. Sun Xique was illiterate and simply dictated it and the private assistant wrote it down for her. Then, he ordered the family members of the two to explain the blackmailing process. Worried that the higher ups would question the authenticity of the confession, Magistrate Zhao made sure to be thorough and asked all officials and commoners present to be witnesses.

The commoners naturally agreed and the officials did not dare to disagree. They signed the testimony one by one, or stamped their fingerprints.

After getting a thick pile of evidence, he put Sun Xique, Fang Sheng, their family members and the Chief Bailiff into the prison under his jurisdiction. Magistrate Zhao was finally satisfied and left with his son. As for the Governor, he had already fainted in the court hall, buried by stinky eggs and rotten vegetable leaves thrown by the commoners.

When the father and son left the yamen, they saw that Wang Shi was waiting by the carriage she had prepared earlier on the side of the road. The family hugged and wiped a few tears, then talked in a low voice behind the carriage.

"Son, did those two really appear in your dream?" Wang Shi was curious.

You Shu pursed his lips in hesitation and after a moment he frankly said, "Mother, it wasn’t in a  dream, but they spoke to me personally. I have Yin Yang Eyes and can see ghosts." After these words fell, he stared at the expressions of the husband and wife. If they were disgusted and alienated him like the Master, he would immediately leave the Zhao family to make a living elsewhere.

He already understood that being unique was not a fault, but a talent. Why should he bear the criticism of others because of this? Just stay away if you are not able to accept it, he was already used to that.

Magistrate Zhao showed a frightened expression, and said anxiously, "Son, why didn't you say it earlier? Then if you see a ghost who died from injustice while eating, wouldn't it affect your appetite?"

Wang Shi glared at her husband, feeling as if he didn't care about the main point at all. She hugged her son and patted his back, "Don't be afraid, my son. If you see it, treat it as if you haven't seen it. They won't take the initiative to provoke you. But this is also bad! What should I do if you get entangled by a ghost? Mother will take you to the temple to ask for a peace talisman, and then find a high monk to bless you. This is nothing, don’t be afraid!"

Only then did Magistrate Zhao return to his senses, and quickly opened the curtain to ask the coachman to go to Zhenguo Temple.

You Shu’s mood went through significant ups and downs, feeling sad then suddenly happy, and finally exhaled. Sure enough, only fatherly love and motherly love were the greatest in the world. No matter what their children were like, they could tolerate and accept them no matter what. From now on, he no longer had to cover up and hide, because he had no fault at all. Of course, this was only towards the Zhao couple. He had to be extra cautious with other people. The skill of controlling ghosts was nothing to him, but in the eyes of some people it was an extremely useful tool.

He touched his warm chest and said briskly, "Dad, mom, there’s no need to worry. Son can control the Yin Yang Eyes, and will not see anything when I don't want to."

When they heard that, only then did Magistrate Zhao and Wang shi let go of their worries, but still insisted on taking their son to the Zhenguo Temple to obtain a peace talisman. They also snapped off some leaves from the pomelo trees in the temple and took it back with them to add into the bath for their son. When the family of three left, the whole pomelo tree was bald, not even the walnut-sized unripe fruits were left.

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After returning to the mansion, Magistrate Zhao immediately wrote down the entire story in a letter and begged Lao Taiye to give him justice. Seeing that the person behind the scenes was targeting the entire Zhao family, Lao Taiye felt that he could not condone this and immediately submitted a memorial to the Emperor to ask him to investigate. Emperor Zhongkang was an ambitious monarch who ruled very strictly, and was extremely intolerant of dirty underhanded tricks like these. He noticed that it was the handiwork of the princes of the dynasty and became even more furious. He personally appointed the Imperial Censor, Min Wenzhen, who was known as the iron-faced Yama, to thoroughly investigate the matter. He bestowed upon him the Imperial Sword, which meant that Min Wenzhen was to act as the Emperor’s representative and was allowed to execute first then report to the Emperor afterwards.

The princes were frightened as soon as the ceremony was put on. Seeing their Father Emperor’s stance, it seemed like he was actually planning on not sparing any personal feelings! They no longer dared to meddle in the affairs of the Lin’ an Prefecture and recalled all the spies and secret guards, regarding the officials involved in the incident as abandoned sons and ignoring them.

The poor Governor still believed that his Master would surely protect him, but when the supervising Imperial Censor came, he was immediately sentenced for committing a capital offence, and the others would either be executed, beaten with wooden rods, or exiled. Officials who were promoted through currying favor with the newly appointed Governor were removed from office one by one, never to be hired again.

This big change in Lin'an Prefecture had nothing to do with Magistrate Zhao. He received the official document brought by the Imperial Censor which ordered him to return to the Capital to report on his work immediately. Because of his repeated refusal to hand over his son, Magistrate Zhao's reputation for "not teaching his son strictly and indulging his son’s crimes" had long reached the Emperor's ears. There was no need to think about the results of this evaluation. He would definitely receive a low evaluation. It would already be considered fortunate enough if he could retain his post, but if his luck was bad, he would probably be demoted to a small minor official and would never be able to return to the Capital in this life.

You Shu looked for "Zhao Youshu" every day, but results kept pointing to him every time, so he gradually admitted his fate. He was worried that Magistrate Zhao would suffer a major blow and racked his brains to comfort him, but he didn't expect that Magistrate Zhao was very open-minded, stroking the young man's head and smiling, "As long as my son is safe and sound, nothing else matters."

"Yes, let's live our own life well. With our family of three staying together, there aren’t any hurdles we can’t overcome. Mother’s dowry is ample and can support you both." Wang Shi smiled.

A dimple appeared on You Shu’s cheek followed with a smile, his eyes bright. He really, really liked this family.

But it turns out that he was thinking too simply. In addition to the eldest branch, the Zhao clan also had second and third branches born from the legal wife, as well as the fourth and fifth branches born from the concubine. If the side branches were also included, there would be a total of more than 300 people. If trouble arose, the interpersonal relationships would be more complicated than the situation itself.

You Shu and his family entered through a side door. Before they could even put down their luggage, they were taken to the main hall to pay respects to their grandfather and grandmother. They also met the Second Uncle, Third Uncle, Fourth Uncle, Fifth Uncle, Second Aunt, Third Aunt and so on. You Shu followed Wang Shi and greeted them, feeling quite dizzy.

Zhao Lao Taiye led several sons into the study to talk, Zhao Lao Furen remained with Wang shi to reminisce. She only had affection for the senior branch on the surface. She was neither familiar nor distant with them and several aunts also spoke with knives hidden in their words, intentionally or unintentionally mentioning that Magistrate Zhao could be demoted, gloating with schadenfreude on their faces.

The dream of a warm little family was immediately shattered and You Shu felt very depressed. From the beginning to the end his face was dark and he did not speak, which allowed these married women to use this against him, saying that he was ill-bred and arrogant, and was spoiled like in the rumors.

"When you come home, you should abide by the rules of the house. You are sixteen this year. You should read some books and take exams for scholarly honor. Look at your brothers. They were all Xiucai before they were thirteen years old. If they were not studying hard in the study, then they were participating in literary gatherings. Not like you, fooling around, doing nothing, and forcibly robbing a respectable woman. You were lucky to escape this time, but you won’t be this lucky next time. Regardless, those old shortcomings should be corrected.” Zhao Lao Furen looked down on this concubine born grandson, and the other wives also snickered.

Xiucai - a person who has passed the county level imperial exam

Just at this moment, a handsome young man in a red brocade gown ran in, holding a bundle of red and white camellia in his hand. He trimmed the flower branches with scissors, inserted them into a vase and smiled, "I just went on an outing with His Highness the Ninth Prince and saw that the camellias were blooming well and the fragrance was very rich, so I brought it back for the ancestors to admire." While speaking, he spotted You Shu and warmly said, "This is Fifth Younger Brother from Eldest Uncle's family, right? Such a good talent!"

He had a sincere tone and a bright smile, but with You Shu’s keen senses, how could he not see the deep disdain hidden in his eyes. He abhorred people like this, his words were opposite of what he held in his heart, hypocritical and fake. He was unwilling to deal with him and only curled his lips.

His rebellious little dimples popped out again. With his lips curled and dimples showing, it looked as if he was smiling. The elegant gongzi didn't even notice the boy's dislike.

Zhao Lao Furen, who was still lukewarm just now, finally smiled with wrinkles all over her face. She pulled the boy into her arms and said proudly, "Wang Shi, you haven't seen this nephew in a long time, right?"

Wang Shi gave a fake smile, "Isn't this the Di son of Second Brother's family, Yusong? Sure enough, the person is as his name, pure like jade, tall and handsome, with extraordinary bearing."

Zhao Lao Furen finally smiled at Wang Shi and said in agreement, "Yusong is His Highness’s, the Ninth Prince, study companion and had just become a Juren this year. In my Great Xia dynasty, he was the first to pass the imperial provincial examinations at 18 years old! Speaking of which, you wrote to me the year before last saying that You Shu also started with his studies. How did he do?"

Juren - a successful candidate in the imperial examinations at the provincial level

Ask as if you didn’t know! Hadn’t they already written to Lao Taiye about the results? Wang Shi gritted her teeth with hatred, but squeezed out a smile on her face. There was no need to mention how unhappy she felt. She couldn't bear to criticize her son, so she changed the subject and said, "Why haven’t I seen Yu Lin?"

Zhao Yu Lin was the Di son of the third branch, and like Zhao Youshu, he was also a good-for-nothing. He only knew to have fun and play all day, and can be rated as the Evil Star of the Zhao family. As soon as she said this, Zhao Lao Furen's face changed and the expression of the Third Madam, who was smiling happily just now, was also slightly stiff.

Seeing that this trick worked, Wang Shi thus left with her son. Since you said that my son is a good-for-nothing, then let’s see if your own son’s fart is clean! Hmph!

Back to the remote and deserted small courtyard, the mother and son hurriedly asked the servants to bring their meal, but saw Magistrate Zhao walk in dejectedly and sighed while hitting the table.

"What's the matter? Scolded by Lao Taiye?" Wang Shi asked carefully.

"The scolding is secondary. My pitiful son actually became the scapegoat for me." Magistrate Zhao kneaded his forehead and said that he had expressed his hopes to be transferred to the Lianghuai Salt Transport Envoy. Currently, the Emperor was still hesitating and it was unknown who this errand would fall on. In order to prevent corruption caused by the salt transportation, the imperial court will issue an extra 300 taels of silver to discourage corruption every year. Therefore, there was a saying in the Great Xia Dynasty that a high-ranking official in the Capital was not as good as a third-grade official in Lianghuai.

Magistrate Zhao did not cherish power, but he valued ​​gold and silver very much. To pass up on such a lucrative job, one can well imagine the pain in his heart.

Wang Shi patted her husband’s fat shoulders and soothed, “Forget it, this is a foregone conclusion, don’t think about it anymore. Come, let’s eat.”

You Shu felt very guilty and whispered, "Is there really no way to remedy it?"

Magistrate Zhao twisted his eyebrows and thought for a moment, "There is, but it’s a bit difficult." Then he looked at his son with a stern face, "Son, get along well with your third brother for the next few days. If he goes out with His Highness the Ninth Prince, you must definitely follow no matter what and help your father see what hobbies the Ninth Prince has."

"Why do you want your son to fawn on the third child? You don't know that the Old Madam used the third child to criticise our son today. It was incredibly annoying!" Wang shi felt upset.

Magistrate Zhao had no choice but to explain carefully to the mother and son. It turns out that although the Emperor was extremely harsh on the princes, there was one exception, that is, the Ninth Prince Yao’er. The Ninth Prince was not only born from the Empress, but on the day of his birth, auspicious clouds and music sounded from the skies. The Board of Astronomy counted his Eight Characters. Good god, except for the wrong year, he was just like Emperor Zongsheng! You could even say that he was the same! What's more mysterious was that the Ninth Prince could speak at the age of 6 months and could already read books at the age of three. He was proficient in civil and military skills, and the older he grew, the more he resembled the Ancient Sacred Emperor in the portrait.

Eight Characters - (in four pairs, indicating the year, month, day, and hour of a person’s birth; formerly used in fortune telling)

An eminent monk who had attained enlightenment asserted that this child had an extraordinary origin and was the reincarnation of the Emperor Zongsheng. He would inevitably unify the North and South of the Great Xia dynasty and undertake many great exploits.

Emperor Zhongkang was still a little skeptical, but seeing that the Ninth Prince displayed such mystical skill as he grew up, he also happily accepted the prophecy. He was very harsh on all the princes, but Yao’ er, who was treated like a respected ancestor, just needed to wait until he was eighteen to be titled Crown Prince.

The Ninth Prince was seventeen this year and will be eighteen in a few months. No wonder the other princes were eager and blatantly fighting for power.

And Lianghuai Salt Administration was the important foundation of the country. In order to pave the way for the Ninth Prince, Emperor Zhongkang naturally had to pick people from his subordinates. Zhao Yusong, the Di son of the second branch of the Zhao family, was selected early on as the study companion of the Ninth Prince, and the Zhao family was naturally regarded as part of the Ninth Prince’s faction. Therefore, this big stuffed meat pie almost dropped onto Magistrate Zhao's head. It was a pity that they were disturbed by others at such a critical juncture, otherwise the family would have been able to move to Yangzhou to eat and drink in a few months.

Listening to his father list the specialty dishes of Yangzhou one by one, such as Yangzhou fried rice, crab soup dumplings, hibiscus hyssop dumplings, braised silver carp head... You Shu’s saliva started pouring out and his eyes were brighter than ever. As for the Ninth Prince being the reincarnation of Emperor Zongsheng, he wouldn’t believe it before he saw it with his own eyes. There was no one as outstanding as Master.

"Go to Yangzhou! Definitely must go to Yangzhou!" His left hand clenched and punched the palm of his right hand in a decisive manner.

"My son wants to go, then let's go! Let's send out whatever the Ninth Prince likes!" Wang Shi also followed suit.

And so, the family had set going to Yangzhou as their goal. The next day, You Shu held in his temper and patiently dealt with Zhao Yusong. Fortunately, his lips naturally curl up. Even if he didn’t smile, he seemed to be smiling, and with the sweet little dimples, no one could hate the sight of him.

Zhao Yusong did not reject him, but he also wasn’t close. If he was happy, he would half-heartedly reply, but if he wasn’t happy, he would ignore him. After a few long days, You Shu couldn’t stand it any longer and originally planned to send the little ghost to find out what the Ninth Prince liked, but the Ninth Prince had Dragon Qi on him and the ghost dared not get close, so he could only give up on this.

Today, for some reason, Zhao Yusong took the initiative to invite him to go out and reminded him repeatedly that the Ninth Prince would also go, so that he should not be rude.

The Ninth Prince proved himself to be the biological son of Emperor Zhongkang, as he also treated others very harshly. Except for the few companions who grew up with him since childhood, it was difficult for others to know his true preferences. He could gently talk to you, as if he admired you very much, but he could also find an excuse to deal with you at the swift turn of his head. Perhaps even Emperor Zhongkang himself was not clear on what his son was thinking.

Outsiders couldn’t get a grasp on him, so they could only rely on speculation. After a long time, there would naturally be some unreliable rumors. Knowing that her son was going on an outing with the Ninth Prince, Wang shi took a lot of trouble asking around and rushed the embroidery lady to make a set of gorgeous and extraordinary brocade robes that very night and personally delivered it to her son's room.

"Mother, are you sure that the Ninth Prince likes this style of clothes?" You Shu pulled at his sleeves and hem, his expression was very suspicious.

This outfit was so beautiful that it had reached the point of garish. Large groups of peonies were painted on the hem, cuffs, front placket, back, and so on. The colors were mainly crimson and deep purple, and with the black and gold background, it looked very colorful and magnificent. What was even more exaggerated was the flower stamen, which was strung with rice-sized pearls with gold thread, and filled with a fine outline. He would sparkle and glitter the moment he stood under the sun.

When You Shu looked in the mirror, he had to block it with his hands for fear of blinding his eyes.

Wang Shi still felt that it wasn’t enough, so she stuck a ruby-inlaid butterfly on his forehead. Then she looked around and cut a pink camellia blossom and put it next to his ear.

The corners of You Shu’s mouth twitched, but he had to endure it because he was considerate of Wang Shi, until she picked up a box of powder and was about to apply it to his face, then he finally muttered, "Mother, are you sure the Ninth Prince likes this kind of dressing?"

"Haih, all the boys in the Capital are dressed like this, but the Ninth Prince especially likes gorgeous things." Wang Shi waved her hand unconcerned. Great Xia was more prosperous than the other four countries, and the clothing tended to be extravagant. When men have to go out to socialize, they have to pay more attention to their appearance than women. Wearing magnificent brocade clothes was just the basics, and they also put on makeup and powder, and wore flowers and jade hairpins in their hair.

It was not strange for You Shu to go out like this. It was just that the clothing worn was more gorgeous than what the ordinary man would wear.

"My skin is already white, if I apply powder, I’ll look like a dead person. Forget it." You Shu couldn't accept Great Xia's fashion trends for the time being.

"What nonsense are you saying? You’re not allowed to casually say the word ‘dead’! I've asked around and found out that the Ninth Prince likes youths with red lips, white teeth and a face like jade. It’s fine to not apply powder, but you must apply rouge on your lips. He will only speak to you if you’re pleasing to his eye. We will only fawn over him this time. When we go to Yangzhou, who cares about him!" Wang Shi grabbed her son and firmly smeared his lips with red rouge.

This kind of rouge was very precious. It was mixed with natural raw materials such as honey, flower juice, lard, and beeswax. It tasted very sweet. You Shu stretched out the tip of his tongue to lick it, then looked at the mirror again, and felt that only the middle and inner side of his lips were slightly reddish, and the other parts were natural, so he accepted it.

Right at this moment, Zhao Yusong’s servant came to invite him, saying that the carriage was ready and he could leave immediately. You Shu was still a little embarrassed at first, but after a few steps, he got used to it. Walking on the street naked was not uncommon in the apocalypse, so it was also okay to be dressed more gorgeously and feminine.

Blu: My Honours year is finally over!!! Yesssssssss! I smell FREEDOMMM!

Now that my editor is free as well, we can post again (yayyy)! I'll make sure to whip myself to update one or two chapters a week. If you guys don't see me update, just pm me on discord @Blu#2101 (you'll have to join ISO discord first though) or drop me a kofi with a message (to guilt me lol).