Chapter 1675: Ghosts, Conditions, Miss Liu

Su Mingzhe and the servant left the city, and then he remembered to ask the other party's name and origin.

The servant answered generously.

The servant was named Lu Wan, and was a servant of Lujia Village, fifty miles east of Suzhou City.

The current owner of Lujiazhuang is named Lu Minghe, who is thirty-two years old. He took the imperial examination several times in the past few years but failed. He used his connections to donate a position as a Yuwailang and is a famous local squire.

Lu Minghe originally had a shrewish wife, which resulted in him having no children for more than ten years after his marriage. He did not dare to take a concubine, and on weekdays he could only indulge in the mountains and rivers and associate with some Taoists and monks.

Since his first wife passed away the year before last, Lu Minghe quickly remarried and took in two concubines this year.

The one who is being haunted by ghosts in the house now is the third wife of Xinna.

……

After hearing this, Su Mingzhe asked carefully:
"how long it has been?"

Lu Wan said with an embarrassed look:
"It's been two months."

Su Mingzhe immediately asked curiously:
"It's been so long, haven't you looked for a wizard?"

"I have looked for it. How could I not look for it?"

Lu Wan sighed a few times before he spoke:

"My husband is a friend of the abbot of Hanshan Temple. He initially asked several masters to come, but it was useless. Later, he invited the Taoist priest from Baiyun Temple to come, but there was no result. I heard that the government office invited Taoist priests from other places to catch monsters, so my husband sent me to the city to see if there is any opportunity."

Su Mingzhe couldn't help but think to himself when he heard this:

This is also a good opportunity for Lu Wan. So many monks and Taoists found me directly.

……

Lu Wan was just a house-born boy and was not qualified to ride a horse, so he could only walk back to Lujiazhuang with Su Mingzhe.

The two walked from morning to afternoon and finally arrived at the destination.

"Master, this is Lu Family Manor."

Lu Wan invited the Taoist priest back and knocked on the door happily.

When the doorman opened the door, he learned that a Taoist priest had come to capture demons and monsters, so he hurried to inform the owner, Lu Minghe.

Not long after.

A thin man wearing a jade hat came to the door. Seeing Su Mingzhe in a Taoist robe, he immediately clasped his hands together and bowed:

"Long live the Taoist priest!"

"I bow my head!"

Su Mingzhe exchanged greetings and was led into the backyard. He saw that the maids and servants along the way were all in a panic, so he couldn't help but ask curiously:
"Mr. Lu, your family has encountered such misfortune. Why don't you think of moving away and hiding away?"

"We can't leave. If our whole family moves away from here, we will have terrible abdominal pain. It's terrible!"

Lu Minghe gave a bitter smile, obviously still frightened by the situation at that time.

Seeing this, Su Mingzhe stopped asking questions.

……

Led by Lu Minghe, Su Mingzhe passed through the corridors and pavilions and came to a lotus pond.

Seeing that the Lu family's wall surrounded the lotus pond of dozens of acres, Su Mingzhe's eyes widened:
"What a beautiful garden! The Lu family has such a fortune. If the money for incense offerings is too little, it will be difficult to eliminate the ghost!"

Lu Minghe didn't know what Su Mingzhe was thinking. He led him to a rockery, pointed to a courtyard not far away, and said:

"Master, my third wife lives there. Apart from her maids who can bring her some food, anyone else will get a splitting headache if they get close to her..."

"There is indeed a sinister aura!"

Su Mingzhe used his Dharma Eyes to take a look, and after just one glance, he understood everything and knew the whole story.

The ghost that haunted the third lady was not a male ghost, but a female ghost.

And judging from her age, this female ghost was less than thirty years old when she was alive, just like a peach, plump and tender. In addition, although this female ghost entangled the third wife of the Lu family, her "root" was not the courtyard of the third wife, but the ancestral tomb of the Lu family not far away.

This could explain why Lu Minghe asked the Taoist priests and monks he had made friends with to exorcise the evil spirits, but they couldn't drive them away no matter what they did.

As the saying goes, you can guard against thieves day and night, but you can never guard against thieves in your own home.

This female ghost is not a lonely ghost at all, but a domestic ghost. How can outsiders drive her away?

……

After figuring out the reason, Su Mingzhe did not explain to Lu Minghe, but just threatened:
"Mr. Lu, that ghost is very powerful. If you want to cure it completely, I'm afraid that even your huge business will be lost."

Lu Minghe understood the meaning of the words and asked quickly:

"Master, even if there is no way to cure it, if it can make him calm down, I am willing to pay 500 taels of incense money!"

"In that case, I will go and have a good chat with her."

Su Mingzhe asked Mr. Lu to wait outside and went into the courtyard himself.

……

After a while, Su Mingzhe walked out of the courtyard and said to Mr. Lu with a serious expression:
"Mr. Lu, I just talked to that ghost. She said that she doesn't need any other conditions, but only wants your third wife to serve her."

"what?"

Mr. Lu did not expect that Su Mingzhe could not save his beloved Third Madam from the fire and water, and he immediately became anxious:

"Master, please talk to her again. As long as she is willing to leave my house, I am willing to pay one thousand taels of incense money!"

"Well... okay, I'll go talk about it again!"

Su Mingzhe calculated in his mind that one thousand taels of silver was almost his annual income in Mojia Town, so he could quit while he was ahead.

……

This time, Su Mingzhe stayed in there for a little longer.

A full hour passed.

Su Mingzhe then walked out with a gloomy face and sighed at Lu Minghe:

"Mr. Lu, the ghost said that she can leave Lujia Village, but there are two conditions. One is that the Lu family must offer incense to her, and the other is that the third wife must become a nun and serve her!"

Lu Minghe was very happy to hear that Guimei was willing to leave home, but when he heard that one of the conditions was that his third wife had to accompany her, he suddenly became angry and anxious.

The third lady was of noble birth. She was the only daughter of Liu Jing, the Imperial Censor of Salt in Jiangnan. She learned music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry and songs since childhood. She was both talented and beautiful.

Later, Liu Jing was impeached and imprisoned, and Miss Liu was forced to live in the Jiaofangsi. When Lu Minghe learned about it, he spent nearly 100,000 taels of silver to bribe various people before he could marry her home.

As a result, something evil happened on the wedding night, and Miss Liu is still a virgin until now.

How could Lu Minghe be willing to let her go?
"Master, my third wife has never touched women since she was a child, how could she become a nun? Why don't you talk to her again? If she really needs someone to serve her, I am willing to pay and find ten pairs of boys and girls to serve her!"

"Mr. Lu...the ghost said that he only wants the third wife and nothing else. Please think about it again."

Su Mingzhe destroyed Lu Minghe's last hope. Seeing that the other party was still unwilling to make a decision, he simply issued an ultimatum:
"Mr. Lu, there are only two options now. One is to abandon this manor. I have a way to suppress and seal the ghost. The other is to agree to the conditions proposed by the other party."

"This manor is the ancestral land of my Lu family. All my ancestors have lived in the backyard garden. How can I give it up!"

Lu Minghe sighed deeply, looking miserable. Although he was very reluctant, he also understood that at this point, he had to make a choice:
"Master, I am willing to agree to the other party's conditions, but once she leaves, she can't come back!"

"Of course! Since I have negotiated this matter, I will be responsible to the end!"

Seeing that Lu Minghe agreed to the plan he and Guimei had discussed, Su Mingzhe went back happily to tell Mrs. Lu the good news.

……

In the courtyard bedroom.

Miss Liu, who was being dressed by a maid, saw Su Mingzhe come back in and asked shyly and nervously:

"Master, did Mr. Lu agree?"