The Aloof Lord's Mysterious Wife
Chapter 51: The Ultimate Interpretation Belongs to Our Shop

Chapter 51: The Ultimate Interpretation Belongs to Our Shop

The following matters were naturally to be handled by the Princess Zhuang.

Ying Ji was imprisoned, but the innocent child was returned to the care of the man.

However, this was still a disgrace for Prince Zhuang, so they could no longer appear in the capital.

Princess Zhuang expressed her gratitude to Nanli repeatedly.

The previous incidents involving the Feng Yue Pavilion and the eldest Princess’s residence had been concealed, as it was inconvenient for them to be known.

However, with the numerous guests at Prince Zhuang’s residence, it was impossible to hide it any longer.

Thus, Nanli had become quite famous within the Jing City.

However, she had to return to her residence today to bid farewell to her third brother and didn’t have time to linger at Prince Zhuang’s residence.

Chu Huan, this bookworm, had always admired Mr. Shao from the Bai Lu Academy.

With a recommendation, he finally had the opportunity to study at the academy and become Mr. Shao’s student.

Today was the day he set off.

Nanli hurried to the gate of the Jing City gate and saw that the group had already arrived.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

"You’ve come, Sixth Sister." Chu Huan smiled and greeted her.

"Third Brother." Nanli took out a bag of talismans she had prepared early in the morning, along with a small book.

"Take these for self-defense. This is an instruction manual. Since you love reading so much, it surely won’t be difficult for you."

Chu Huan knew that these were drawn by his Sixth Sister after staying up for two nights.

His eyes became slightly warm. He became sentimental and nodded, "I will take care of myself. You don’t need to worry about me."

It was getting late, and he had to set off.

After bidding farewell to Chu Huan, everyone couldn’t help but feel a bit down.

Madam Shen shed tears of sadness.

After all, she had watched her children grow up, but now they were all grown and couldn’t stay at home forever.

It was time for them to go out and learn skills.

In two more days, Chu Hanlin and Chu Ye would have to return to the capital’s military camp, and the Anyang Marquis Mansion would no longer be as lively as before.

Xiao Wanyi had just entered the residence not long ago and had to be separated from her husband.

They could only meet once or twice a month.

Madam Shen was afraid that she would be bored, so she began to teach her some matters of the inner courtyard.

Xiao Wanyi learned diligently, but she was not good at calculations.

After a few days of learning, she visibly lost weight, despite having a plump figure before.

Unexpectedly, learning how to manage the household made her lose weight even faster!

After Nanli became famous outside Prince Zhuang’s residence, people would occasionally come to her for fortune-telling.

However, without exception, they all wanted to know if the children in their families were their own blood.

This was more effective than a blood test.

Nanli didn’t mind.

Whether it was fortune-telling or feng shui, as long as it could earn money, it was fine.

Because it was inconvenient to let people into the inner courtyard, Chu Shuo arranged a small house in the front courtyard.

Inside, there was an ancestral tablet of Xuanyue Temple, and outside, there was a sign: Fortune-telling for fifty taels, divination for one hundred taels, feng shui consultation for three hundred taels, ghost-catching for one thousand taels, selling various talismans, with a refund if ineffective.

When Nanli saw it, the corner of her mouth twitched.

Finally, she added a line at the bottom: The ultimate interpretation belongs to our shop.

Catching one ghost cost one thousand taels, but the price would be different for catching a group of evil spirits.

After all, it was a laborious task.

However, catching ghosts was not an easy business, so Nanli had only earned small amounts of money recently.

As the fourteenth day of July approaching, she closed her shop and worked tirelessly, frantically drawing talismans to ward off evil spirits.

The fourteenth day of July was known as the Ghost Festival. On that night, the gates of the underworld would open wide, and all the ghosts would leave.

Those with masters would return home, while those without would wander in the mortal realm.

With many ghosts around, it was easy for evil spirits to infiltrate and cause trouble among the living.

On this occasion, even the servants in the mansion carry a talisman to ward off evil spirits.

As night falls, Nanli departed from the Anyang Marquis Mansion, carrying the Xuanyue Sword and a pouch of talismans.

Her first stop was the Yuhou Mansion to deliver the talismans.

Little did she know that Ye Siheng had gone to the Jingji Camp two days ago, accompanied, of course, by Qing feng.

Nanli pursed her lips and asked, "Isn’t your lord preparing to marry a princess? Why would he go to the military camp at such a crucial moment?"

The steward of the mansion scratched his head, looking puzzled. "Marry a princess? Our Prince has never mentioned such a thing."

Nanli was taken aback.

Was it not true, as Qing Feng had mentioned before? The steward sighed and continued, "The emperor did consider arranging a marriage for my lord, but he declined due to his mobility issues. Since then, the matter has not been brought up again by the emperor or anyone in the mansion."

He also wished for a joyous occasion to take place in the mansion, but if the lord refused to marry, there would be no celebration.

Nanli furrowed her brow and noticed a surge of ghostly energy in the southeast.

She didn’t have time to ponder further and handed the steward a few talismans before turning away.

She leaped onto the rooftop and had a clearer view of the intensifying ghostly energy in the southeast.

It seemed that the gates of the underworld were opening from that direction.

Ordinary people couldn’t see ghosts, but she, with her innate spiritual vision, could see both the ghostly energy and the spirits clearly.

As long as those ghosts didn’t cause trouble, she wouldn’t interfere.

However, this time was different, something peculiar was happening.

When the gates of the underworld opened, the spirits should have scattered, guided by the river lanterns in search of sustenance.

But the powerful ghostly energy vanished in an instant.

Not a single ghost could be seen in the entire city.

Nanli quickened her pace and arrived at the gates of the underworld in the southeast. The gates were still wide open.

Her eyes narrowed as she spotted a gatekeeper among the shadows.

The gatekeeper resembled a human, possessing three souls and seven spirits, but the difference was that he was dead while others were alive.

This gatekeeper’s soul was injured and he was on the verge of death.

Nanli quickly took out her Tianxing Brush and drew a Soul-Binding Talisman out of thin air, placing it on the gatekeeper.

The gatekeeper narrowly escaped death and slowly opened his eyes, surprising to see a young girl with a delicate face and rosy cheeks.

He couldn’t help but exclaim, "What’s happening these days? Are even women forced to practice Taoist arts?"

Nanli tapped his head with her brush and said, "With that remark, I will only accept female disciples in the future, no males."

The gatekeeper, with a grim and toothy face, was once again astonished.

A mere mortal had touched him and even caused him pain.

It seemed that her mastery of Taoist arts was profound.

He immediately showed respect and said, "It seems that the young lady is formidable. As soon as the gates of the underworld opened, someone took away the spirits and injured me."

"Any distinguishing features?" Nanli asked in a deep voice.

"He was wearing a black robe, and I couldn’t see his face clearly," the gatekeeper replied, grabbing Nanli’s hand.

"Please, young lady, help me. If the King of hell finds out that I failed in my duties, he will surely punish me severely."

"Just say that the spirits entered the mortal realm and are no longer under your jurisdiction," Nanli squinted her eyes.

"This person in the black robe is an old acquaintance of mine, and I must challenge him once again."

It was as she had expected.

This person had acted faster than her, taking away numerous spirits.

It seemed that the black-robed individual possessed some refined grudges, and his intentions could be categorized into a few possibilities.

Nanli looked towards the direction of the imperial palace.

Tonight, she was going to make a huge fortune.

She took out a messaging talisman and said, "Thank you, Prince Xie. There is an urgent matter. Waiting for me at the palace gate. I owe you a favor."

The gatekeeper’s face turned darker and darker upon hearing this. "You practice Taoist arts, yet you are so vulgar?"