Chapter 46

"If you don't believe me, you should at least believe Magistrate Xie. Magistrate Xie is an upright official; he would never conspire with me to harm you."

Lin Qingyue quietly gave Xie Shouzheng a look, and Xie Shouzheng hurriedly chimed in:

"Yes, yes, this official would certainly never do such a heinous thing. Your Highness, rest assured!"

As they spoke, the boat had already drifted far from the shore; it was too late to get off even if they wanted to.

The river was very wide, and by the time they reached the middle, the people and lights on the shore were no longer clearly visible.

The red wooden boat slowed to a stop. Xie Shouzheng took out a soul-guiding bell, shaking it with a "ding-ding-dang" sound, and shouted, "Wang Ling'er, Wang Ling'er, we have come to take you home!"

After calling out three times in a row, two of the guards took out iron rakes to search and hook through the water.

Before long, one of their rakes hooked onto something, and he immediately shouted, "Found Wang Ling'er's corpse!"

The other guards came over to pull, but the thing was deathly heavy, as if it were anchored to the riverbed, and no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't pull it up.

Xie Shouzheng held up a lantern and leaned over to look, seeing only a pitch-black head beneath the water's surface, its long hair drifting with the current like water snakes.

"Wang Ling'er, we have come to take you home! On this boat, there is not only us from the Xuanjing Division, but also His Highness, Prince Jin."

Xie Shouzheng emphasized Dongfang Yan's status, "Do you know who Prince Jin is? The current Emperor's own nephew, a Prince with heaven-shaking power, of noble status—the noblest among the nobles."

"His Highness is young and handsome, a paragon among men, and even more so, he is righteous and loves the people like his own children! Wang Ling'er, whatever you need, he is willing to help you."

Dongfang Yan was stunned by the praise: "Xie Shouzheng, why are you saying all that?"

Xie Shouzheng gave a cheeky smile: "This official is merely expressing my endless admiration for Your Highness! Oh my, it's floating up, Wang Ling'er's corpse is floating up! Pull, pull it up quickly!"

The guards received the order and immediately took action. Pulling and tugging, they soon got the female corpse onto the boat.

Strangely, although Wang Ling'er's body had been soaking at the bottom of the river for several days, it was remarkably well-preserved; there was no bloating or decay, nor any signs of being gnawed on by fish, looking as if she had just drowned.

Her highly distended abdomen clearly showed she was a pregnant woman, and she was already near her time of delivery.

Wang Ling'er's face was pale, her eyes wide open; although they lacked any focus, for some reason, Dongfang Yan felt as if she were staring right at him, which inexplicably made his scalp tingle.

Xie Shouzheng quietly said to Lin Qingyue: "She is very satisfied with Prince Jin, but Prince Jin..."

Lin Qingyue feigned surprise and said: "What! She has taken a fancy to Prince Jin and wants to marry him? How can this be?"

Dongfang Yan was also startled by these words, "What do you mean by that?"

Lin Qingyue said: "Wang Ling'er has already become an Evil Fiend, which is why her corpse hasn't decayed; if she stays in the river for too long, she will cause havoc. This river connects to the inner rivers of the capital and is an important water source; it cannot continue to be polluted. To send her away, her obsession must be resolved. Her obsession... oh my, this concubine only just found out, she has actually dared to take a fancy to you, Your Highness!"

"Presumptuous!" Dongfang Yan scolded sternly.

"Since she refuses to leave, then let her soul be scattered! Can this Prince be threatened by a dead person?"

Lin Qingyue also chimed in: "Exactly! His Highness Prince Jin is of noble status, how could he marry a commoner, let alone a dead person?"

As soon as these words were spoken, it indeed angered the Ghost Mother; wild winds and giant waves rose in the middle of the river, and the small wooden boat rocked and swayed, nearly being overturned by the waves.

Dongfang Yan was also shaken until he couldn't stand steadily, and he asked in a panic: "What is going on? Didn't you say there was no danger? Why did waves suddenly rise?"

Lin Qingyue said: "This female ghost is about to transform into an Evil Fiend; if her obsession cannot be fulfilled, she will overturn the boat and drown us all!"

Dongfang Yan shouted: "Magistrate Xie!"

Xie Shouzheng spoke with difficulty: "But her obsession is that she wants to... marry you, Your Highness Prince Jin. I didn't expect it to be like this either!"

"Absurd!" Dongfang Yan laughed in extreme anger, "Not to mention that she is a dead person now, even if she were alive, this Prince would never marry a commoner!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a wave hit, soaking Dongfang Yan through his clothes and nearly sweeping him into the river; fortunately, Lin Qingyue grabbed him in time.

Dongfang Yan asked, still shaken: "This evil spirit is too rampant, why not scatter her?"

Lin Qingyue said: "You have provoked her to the point of becoming an Evil Fiend; she is already difficult to deal with. We are on the water here, and we can't use a Fire Array to destroy her. Oh no, the waves are getting bigger, if this continues, the boat will capsize. Your Highness, do you know how to swim?"

Of course, Dongfang Yan did not know how to swim.

"I am not good at water battles either! Then what should we do? If this continues, we will all drown!" Lin Qingyue appeared very flustered; this was the first time Dongfang Yan had seen her look flustered.

If even Lin Qingyue was at her wit's end, then it was truly troublesome.

"Is there really no other way?"

"A ghost's existence stems from obsession, and her obsession is to find someone to marry, and she just happens to have taken a fancy to you, Your Highness. Why doesn't Your Highness just humble yourself for a moment? It's just a formality and won't affect anything else. Once her obsession is resolved, she will leave."

Dongfang Yan was furious: "Lin Qingyue, you actually want this Prince to... with that ghost..."

Before he could finish his sentence, another wave hit, and the small boat was teetering, looking like it wouldn't hold up much longer.

Xie Shouzheng wiped the water from his face and said loudly: "Your Highness, it's bad, she says she wants to drag you down to drown and become a pair of ghost husband and wife!"

Dongfang Yan: "..."

Lin Qingyue said: "The situation is critical, if you don't make a decision, we will all die!"

In the end, Dongfang Yan, having boarded the "thief ship," had no choice but to bite the bullet and agree.

As soon as he nodded, the wind and waves slowly subsided. A stiff smile appeared on the Ghost Mother's pale face.

Xie Shouzheng immediately rummaged through a box nearby and pulled out two sets of wedding robes, handing one to Dongfang Yan and giving the other to Lin Qingyue to change Wang Ling'er into.

The guards on the boat quickly brought out an offering table and set up dragon and phoenix red candles.

Dongfang Yan held the wedding robes, looking at the offering table and red candles, and finally realized the problem: "How could you have prepared these things in advance? Could it be that you knew all along?"

Xie Shouzheng was stumped by the question and didn't know how to answer.

Lin Qingyue helped cover the lie: "This boat was borrowed; it was originally a wedding delivery boat. As for the wedding robes on the boat... poor families can't afford wedding robes, so they borrow them, and return them along with the boat after they're done. Isn't this just a coincidence?"

While telling this barefaced lie, Lin Qingyue changed the female corpse into the clothes.

Xie Shouzheng chimed in from the side: "Deputy Envoy Lin is right, it's all a coincidence, a coincidence!"