The Deposed Crown Prince had Three Lifelong Regrets - Chapter 17

Chapter 17

“I followed Zhao Pan’er here, but I lost her,” seeing that Lu Fengmian didn’t intend to pay him any attention, he quickly found a topic that might interest her. “First, let me state clearly: she told me you two knew each other. I didn’t trick it out of anyone by illicit means.”

Lu Fengmian took a step forward, not lingering to examine the truth of his words, and brushed past him.

It was rare for her to lose her temper, and it was again because of that Pan’er.

It was one thing to know, but to feel frustrated and annoyed upon seeing her was another. Assuming their relationship was once amicable, her deliberate concealment of that past was enough to break the bond now.

If I weren’t like a piece of duckweed on water, unable to find anywhere to settle and inquire about the past, why would I be so angry with you?

Now I have a favor to ask of you, so I must offer my best attitude and smile, but the accumulated anxiety and uncertainty must be shouldered by someone. Since Shao Cheng rushed to me, let him bear it.

A few candles were lit in the woodshed. Lu Fengmian arrived silently, using her own blood as an anchor, cutting her fingertip to draw a formation on the door panel with her bare hand.

The practiced formation model flowed from her fingertip with exceptional grace.

After finishing the drawing, Lu Fengmian was unsteady on her feet. She even broke into a sweat and had to lean against the outer wall, slowly shuffling back to her guest room.

For the next two days, no one permitted her to conduct exorcism activities, and she was too lazy to rush to survey the layout of the courtyard.

The servant girls delivering the three daily meals became increasingly reluctant with each trip. At first, she wondered if the old woman had invited too many people, encroaching on their free time. She only learned from their gossip that Zhao Pan’er was the one causing trouble, making the manor chaotic.

Lu Fengmian waited until the evening, her heart stirred by the beautiful scenery, and went out for a walk. This manor did not prioritize symmetry, leaning entirely toward complexity and intricacy. The crisscrossing screen walls, haphazardly planted potted landscapes, and rock gardens made her lose her sense of direction.

She had originally agreed with her friend Mo to climb the wall and escape, but before leaving, she wanted to catch one more glimpse of the girl who ran a small guiding shop alone.

If it weren’t for the need to investigate her aunt’s crimes; if it weren’t for her lack of true support; if it weren’t for the need to be docile and honest to avoid suspicion, she truly wished to follow her heart’s desire and take them back to the capital.

Even if the law favored the idea of an eye for an eye, she could at least fight for that young girl.

Thinking this, a dull ache started in her temples. Unable to do anything, Lu Fengmian had no choice but to follow the path she had taken, groping her way back to the guest room.

She returned to the guest room, stumbling with uneven steps, and lay down on the bed fully clothed. Even after falling asleep, her dreams were turbulent.

The dream was a conversation relayed by the Spirit Butterfly.

In the background, a hoarse male voice was vaguely crying. Constant thumping sounds came from inside the sedan chair, like a bound body knocking against the carriage wall.

Thump, thump, thump.

“Lord of the Cave is understanding of us. The previous offering was defiled, which reduced the divine blessing. This time, the Lord has finally taken a liking to another bride, so all of you must be careful.”

“Rest assured, for the blessings of the next decade…”

The voice suddenly became muffled, and her vision tilted.

The Spirit Butterfly naturally possessed a numbing effect, and the shared sensation could only be maintained for a moment. The legs of the sedan bearer on the right quickly grew weak. His steps felt increasingly like stepping on cotton, and his already precarious consciousness completely collapsed.

He fell to his knees with a thud. At the very moment of his fall, the Spirit Butterfly withered and died. The cold wind poured into the open collar of his robe, and the chill instantly woke him up.

Thump, thump, thump.

The thumping didn’t stop. Thump, thump, thump.

Lu Fengmian woke up with a start, leaping up from the bed like a carp.

However, before her racing heart could calm down, her peripheral vision caught a shadow reflected on the latticework of the closed door.

A thin, tall figure with long, dark hair spread out, stood motionlessly outside the door.

In an instant, Lu Fengmian felt unable to breathe.

Her overly vivid imagination conjured a much more terrifying image: wet hair, a wooden floor soaked with water, and the rustling sound of cloth rubbing while moving.

The figure opposite moved slightly, and immediately afterward, a rhythmic sound came from outside the door—Thump, thump, thump.

Her heart was in her throat. Separated by seven or eight steps, she didn’t even have time to hide.

In her indecision, her body acted first. She crawled to the edge of the bed using both hands and feet. In the darkness, her calves hung over the edge of the bed. After haphazardly pulling on her socks and shoes, Lu Fengmian finally clenched her fists, ready to face the unexpected situation.

“Sister Fengmian, are you in there? I miss you so much~”

This affected, exaggerated tone instantly sent her back to the experience at Yushan Temple, where a female ghost eagerly knocked on her door.

If the voice hadn’t eerily sounded like Zhao Pan’er, Lu Fengmian would have already lashed out. Be it human or ghost, she would strike first and ask questions later.

“Who are you trying to scare in the middle of the night?!”

Lu Fengmian’s lingering anger had not subsided, and she was not pleased with the visit.

She was met with a pair of wide, blinking, bewildered eyes.

“I… Uh… Sorry, Sister.” Li Qinghuai was genuinely confused. She had similar experiences before, but those were when she was unloved, like when she was caught by a maid while sneaking food from the imperial kitchen late at night, and the maid insisted she had been scared—a trivial matter.

These trivial incidents vanished without a trace after she came of age.

No one would deliberately offend her. The young Lu Fengmian was the same, often siding with her.

“I…”

Lu Fengmian took a breath. Her conscience gradually returned, and she grabbed her, urging her to enter the room.

“Come in, if you have something to say, say it. Coming at this hour, you must have something important to discuss. I have no reason to blame you.”

“What if I said there really isn’t anything important?” Li Qinghuai smiled awkwardly, scrutinizing her carefully.

The atmosphere was frozen for a moment, as if they were one step away from a falling out.

“After two days of my hard work, your little friends are almost settled into the luxurious guest rooms. Congratulations.”

She quickly finished what she wanted to say, waiting like a defendant awaiting a verdict.

After a moment, Lu Fengmian sighed, “I thought you knew some inside information and were planning to ask me to go demon-slaying.”

No wonder the house has been in chaos these past few days. So you were doing it deliberately.

And my blood array, set outside the woodshed door. I haven’t even dealt with the situation for two days, and you’re already going against the heavens.

Li Qinghuai considered this for a moment and thought it was an excellent idea. “Alright, let’s go. That’s exactly what I intended.”

She grabbed Lu Fengmian’s wrist and walked out naturally. Lu Fengmian was not exactly appropriately dressed at the moment, but she didn’t try to adjust her appearance, allowing herself to be led.

Li Qinghuai skillfully led the way to the woodshed. Truthfully, although it was small, it wasn’t terrible.

There were just some burn marks in the corner, as if the original occupant had accidentally knocked over a candle, burning the room and turning this former boudoir into a woodshed.

The firewood and dry straw were neatly arranged, piled up in one area as bedding.

The environment was not much different from the God of Joy Inn they had stayed at previously. Entering the town seemed to make little difference.

The two supported each other as they entered the woodshed, causing a commotion.

Although most people had already had a decent night’s sleep, being woken up in the middle of the night still made them unhappy. Especially upon seeing Lu Fengmian’s dishevelled hair, everyone was startled, thinking some disaster had occurred and she had come to save them.

But the two simply found an empty space and sat against the wall.

“It’s nothing, everyone. We’re just here to stand guard for the night. Go back to sleep,” Li Qinghuai clasped her hands together and bowed to everyone.

The melancholy Fox Half-Immortal’s eyes widened. “What are you two doing? Do you think our place isn’t crowded enough? You come here to join the fun too?”

Li Qinghuai rolled her eyes at him, thinking, You really think of yourself as human.

“Just wait. Something will definitely happen tonight. I’m a celestial being sent down to protect you all. Hurry and thank me,” she said, seemingly joking, her eyes full of arrogance, as if she truly held the authority of the Supreme Venerable.

The Fox Half-Immortal was about to retort when he saw the smiling Lu Fengmian behind her make a gesture, placing a finger vertically against her lips.

Staring at the beautiful woman with a radiant smile, he choked. He couldn’t help but admire Princess Wenchang. As expected of her, she had coaxed the woman in just two days, and now she was even turning against him.

Speechless, truly speechless.

Then wait. We’ll all wait.

I’ll see how long we have to wait.

“Don’t be angry. When this matter is resolved, I will definitely promote your Fox Immortal Temple properly, and burn butter lamps for you every month and year. I will ensure you accumulate merits and rise to greatness soon,” Lu Fengmian patiently consoled him.

But just as the Fox Half-Immortal was lost in his daydream, the other person abruptly stopped talking. The figure that had been lingering outside the door also suddenly paused, the dark shadow seemingly taking root on the door panel.

The person had wandered over without anyone noticing. Some people had noticed the moving figure outside and wanted to drive away the woman, who was still graceful even as a silhouette. But without exception, they were fiercely glared at by Li Qinghuai, as if the person outside was her relative.

The woman outside, who was standing guard and gently swaying a baby, chuckled lightly. She patted the child intermittently, then slowly and gracefully began to walk away.

Before she left, the child, annoyed by the patting, cried out in a high-pitched voice. The woman, however, let out a silvery peal of laughter and sang a soft, melodious folk song to soothe the child.

The bodyguards and Lu Fengmian: “…”

Someone muttered, “She seems to be Jiang Yule, the one possessed. She doesn’t have a child, right? She, she seems to be holding a quilt, and the crying is also coming from her own voice…”

To exorcise a demon without harming the patient’s foundation, one must first take a Soul Protection Pill, which allows most of the evil energy to dissipate. However, the dissipation of evil energy inevitably stimulates the patient, leading to a worsening of the possessed state.

Once the patient has spent an entire night in a frenzy and shows signs of exhaustion, the exorcism can begin.

Ideally, the person should be tied up during this time, but the Zhang family absolutely refused. If Lu Fengmian hadn’t fought a losing battle against the group, seeing their arguments become increasingly extreme, with a subtle tendency to kick them out, she wouldn’t have agreed to the compromise of having someone watch the patient instead of tying her up.

When Jiang Yule shuffled past her room, Lu Fengmian nearly ground her back teeth.

A cold chill spread. Li Qinghuai kicked Lu Fengmian and said, “I know you drew a blood curse, and the demon can’t enter this room, but I need to go out. Don’t look at me like that, I promise I won’t cause trouble.”

She smiled and stood up, about to leave. Lu Fengmian grabbed her wrist, and she immediately dropped the smile, looking at the other woman quietly.

The red spots on Li Qinghuai’s face made her look unsettling. When she smiled, she didn’t look pretty; instead, she looked more terrifying and bizarre.

Lu Fengmian tightened her grip on the wrist but involuntarily avoided her gaze, letting her eyes rest on the other woman’s hand.

It was a hand with clearly defined knuckles, the five fingers like a bundle of withered bamboo sticks, bone-thin.

“What are you worried about?” The strange atmosphere intensified, and her question pushed the sense of unfriendliness to a climax.

The surrounding sounds had somehow grown quieter. The men’s breathing was light and shallow.

Her voice had lost its usual coolness, seemingly attempting to lighten the mood, but this only made it more awkward.