I stood behind Zhu Youjian and watched the little girl who had grown into his soul body stick out half of her body from his spine and happily play with a lock of his long hair.
I couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness.
The little girl was originally very beautiful. She looked about seven or eight years old. Her palace silk dress was spotlessly clean. Just like her father, the emperor, she didn't look the least bit downcast as a descendant of a fallen dynasty. However, every time I met her in my dreams, her expression would become a little more dull...
Now she was like a two - or three - year - old baby. Her slender fingers twirled Zhu Youjian's long hair around and around, and she let out little giggles.
"The affairs of our family don't need outsiders' interference."
Zhu Youjian had been a ghost for a hundred years and no longer used the self - titles he had used when he was alive.
"Selfish bastard."
I was already used to his cold and aloof attitude. I bent down and sat beside him on the edge of the abyss, looking at the bustling Yellow Spring Road on the other side.
"For the sake of your own stupid pride, you've let your daughter suffer the endless pain of death with you."
Those who died an accidental and premature death must be reincarnated as soon as possible. Otherwise, they would experience the horror and pain of their death every day.
Different from those who committed suicide, the premature deaths were fated. After they were taken back by the ghost messengers and judged by the Nine Nether Hells and the Ten Palaces of Yama, they could be reincarnated.
Zhu Youjian's youngest daughter was a princess named Xiao Jiu. She had always been very close to her father. Even when the imperial city was breached, the little princess still held her father's hand and wanted him to escape quickly!
In the distance, the shouts of the rebel bandits and the shrill screams of the women in the palace could already be heard.
Zhu Youjian hugged Xiao Jiu and sobbed, "My child, you shouldn't have been born into the royal family..."
Xiao Jiu wanted to reach out to wipe away her father's tears, but instead, a cold and glinting blade cut off the arm that was about to wipe away her father's tears and pierced into her tiny body.
Xiao Jiu died quickly. She always thought it was the rebel bandits who broke into the imperial city that killed her.
Before Zhu Youjian hanged himself on Coal Hill with his hair loose and chaff in his mouth, he prayed to the heavens, saying that he was ashamed to face his ancestors in the underworld...
The royal family of the Ming Dynasty all had a Taoist heart. Many emperors had practiced Taoism to the point of going crazy. It was because the imperial court really had collections about achieving immortality through corpse - transformation. Zhu Youjian had also practiced Taoism. The vow he made when he was dying actually summoned the spiritual consciousness of the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord refined Xiao Jiu's soul, who was always by his side, into the "Supreme Soul - Returning Spell" and planted it in Zhu Youjian's soul body, making him a wandering ghost who would never enter the cycle of reincarnation.
However, the price was that he would suffer the pain of hanging every day, and Xiao Jiu inside his body not only had to bear the pain of having her hyoid bone broken with him but also had to endure the despair of having her arm cut off and her body slit open.
I didn't believe that Zhu Youjian was indifferent to his daughter.
"Humph."
Zhu Youjian gave a cold snort. He stood up from the edge of the abyss, reached out and grabbed the collar of my clothes. "Get back!"
... Well, he finally remembered what he was supposed to do.
The moment I woke up from the dream, I felt a cool sensation on my skin.
The faint fragrance of borneol and myrrh, the two kinds of external medicine that Granny Bai liked to use the most, was applied on my skin that was as rough as the bark of an old tree. It not only relieved the pain but also had a calming effect with its faint fragrance.
I didn't even need to open my eyes to know that Granny Bai had also moved into Si Jiangchen's courtyard.
"... Wuwu... Granny Bai, thank you."
I rubbed my eyes and thanked Granny Bai, but there was no answer from her for a long time.
This wasn't Granny Bai's style. She always answered every question and granted every request.
I quickly opened my eyes and found that it was Si Jiangchen sitting by the bed. He was holding a small sweet - white porcelain bowl in his hand and using a soft brush to gently apply the white ointment inside onto my body.
"Why is it you?!"
My face instantly turned red.
My wounds were on my arms and chest. When applying the medicine, I had to be bare - chested to spread the medicine evenly, and then I had to let it dry for a while to be absorbed. Now I was just like a peeled chestnut lying on the bed, completely exposed to Si Jiangchen's eyes!
I panicked and grabbed the quilt beside me to cover myself, but unexpectedly, Si Jiangchen was faster than me. His right hand holding the soft brush instantly grabbed my wrist and pushed me back down.
"It's not like I haven't seen it before!"
Si Jiangchen looked at me almost nose - to - nose. "You even said on the train that you wanted to marry me in return for my kindness. Hmm?"
"I... Do you really find me attractive like this?"
To be honest, I didn't even dare to look at the marks on my own body. How could a cold and picky man like Si Jiangchen possibly like a monster like me?
"Why not?"
Si Jiangchen mumbled in a low voice following my words, and then he kissed my lips without any hesitation.
"Wuwuwu..."
I was held by my wrist and couldn't struggle free. I was also afraid that the ointment on my body would rub off on him and be wasted, so I had no choice but to let him kiss me wantonly until I was out of breath and almost fainted again...
"Asshole!! Asshole!"
When he finally let me go, I felt that not only my mouth but also my tongue was numb. I pounded his shoulders hard but still couldn't vent my anger. I leaned on his neck and wanted to take a hard bite, but I was afraid of angering him, so I changed to biting his earlobe instead.
"Knock, knock, knock..." The door suddenly rang. I heard A Wen's voice from outside. "Miss, the evening dress you ordered has arrived."
"What evening dress?"
I asked in surprise. Then I remembered that Si Jiangchen had said there would be a grand dinner tonight. I definitely couldn't show up in the home clothes made by Granny Bai. But it was so hot in Nanjing now. The evening dresses were probably all of the low - cut and sleeveless style. When I was bored on the train, I had seen the fashionable ladies in those pictorials, all of them wearing sleeveless dresses.
"Forget it. Those Western - style dresses don't suit me."
I pushed Si Jiangchen away and sat up on the bed.
The ointment on my body had already dried, and only a faint fragrance was faintly discernible. I still put on the clothes made by Granny Bai. After fastening the last button, Si Jiangchen went to open the door.
I saw A Wen leading a female servant of the Si family in. The servant was holding a large silver - gray flat cardboard box in her hand. She bowed to Si Jiangchen and said, "Young master, the evening dress you ordered was delivered yesterday."
I didn't expect that this was the dress Si Jiangchen had ordered before we left Luocheng.
It seemed that he attached great importance to this banquet...
I looked at Si Jiangchen hesitantly, but he took the box and brought it in front of me. "Open it and take a look."
"I don't want to wear it. It doesn't suit me!"
It was not hard to imagine that if I wore those low - cut and backless evening dresses, those wounds would surely scare people!
Seeing my hesitation, Si Jiangchen simply opened the box himself, revealing a long dark - blue velvet dress inside. It had a standing collar and long sleeves, and there was a small pear - shaped drop - pearl pendant on the chest for decoration.
It didn't expose the chest or the back, and even the back of the hands were hidden in the layers of lace.