Mysteries of the Great Zhou Dynasty

Chapter 54 Female Ghost
Rong Wanyin fell asleep sitting there, her head nodding like a chicken pecking at rice. Yan Mingzhang felt very uncomfortable watching her sleeping in a slumber. He smiled helplessly and shook his head, put down the book, and got up to get a pillow.

Yan Mingzhang carefully laid Rong Wanyin down, lifted her head, and stuffed the pillow in. But at this moment, a button on Rong Wanyin's neck came undone. It must have been unbuttoned when she was washing with warm water just now, and it was not buttoned properly. As soon as the button was opened, Rong Wanyin's snow-white neck and delicate collarbone were exposed. Yan Mingzhang was so scared that he almost let go, but he was afraid that Rong Wanyin's head would hit the table, so he didn't dare to really let go. He could only turn his head away and help her lie down with his peripheral vision. Yan Mingzhang's heart was pounding, his brain was blank, and he was at a loss. He turned his head slightly to look, and was so scared that he turned his back to Rong Wanyin, muttering quickly: "Don't look at what is indecent... Don't look at what is indecent..."

Yan Mingzhang calmed down, took the thin quilt from the bed, turned his back to it and threw it on Rong Wanyin, then glanced at her from the corner of his eye, it seemed that she was not covered, so he moved backwards, flattened the quilt with his hands, and pressed it tightly with his hands, covering Rong Wanyin's neck and below with the thin quilt tightly. Yan Mingzhang breathed a sigh of relief, and was about to sit down, but he was not careful and almost sat on empty space, which scared himself. He quickly got up and sat down, and looked to see if Rong Wanyin was woken up by him. Seeing that Rong Wanyin turned over and continued to sleep, he breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly grabbed a book and pretended to read, but he didn't even realize that the book was upside down, and he didn't read a single word in the book.

After a long time, Yan Mingzhang put down the book and looked at Rong Wanyin's sleeping face. Wrapped in the quilt, her face, which was not big to begin with, looked even smaller. Rong Wanyin was sleeping soundly, perhaps because she was tired from the car ride. Her delicate eyebrows, long eyelashes, and her bright eyes covered by the covers made Yan Mingzhang think that these eyes could speak: when these eyes glanced to the left and down, the owner of these eyes must have had some evil thoughts again; when these eyes were wide open, the owner of these eyes must be angry; when these eyes were narrowed into a slit like a kitten, it was when she had eaten something delicious. Yan Mingzhang could imagine all her vivid expressions in his mind, and the corners of his mouth could not help but curl up slightly. Rong Wanyin's soft and steady breathing tickled Yan Mingzhang's heart.

At some point, Yan Mingzhang fell asleep while leaning on the table with his hand. In his daze, he seemed to hear a woman reciting a nursery rhyme.

It was clearly a cheerful nursery rhyme, but she sang it so sadly.

The silver locks jingled,

The silver lock is bright,

Baby, be good.

Baby, be good.

Mother made a silver lock for the baby to wear;
May you be prosperous and live a long life.

Yan Mingzhang was in a nightmare, dazed and unable to wake up. He was sweating profusely from the discomfort. Suddenly, he felt someone gently push him a few times, and the nightmare disappeared instantly.

Yan Mingzhang opened his eyes, breathed a sigh of relief, and leaned back exhausted on the couch. He then noticed that Rong Wanyin had stood up and asked him with a serious expression, "Did you hear any sound?"

Yan Mingzhang shuddered and sat up straight. Sure enough, there was a woman reciting a nursery rhyme. The voice was intermittent and very strange.

Yan Mingzhang knew Rong Wanyin must be frightened, so he stood up and tried to comfort her. As soon as he stood up, he saw that her shirt was unbuttoned. He turned away awkwardly, his face flushed, his heart pounding. He didn't dare look at her at all.

At this time, the ghostly voice sounded again...

The silver locks jingled,

The silver lock is bright,

Baby, be good.

Baby, be good.

Mother made a silver lock for the baby to wear;
May the flowers blossom and prosper, and may you live a long and healthy life. Rong Wanyin jumped up in shock, hugging Yan Mingzhang's arm and clinging to him tightly. Yan Mingzhang froze there in embarrassment, not knowing whether to pull his hand away or not, and his ears instantly turned red.

After a while, the nursery rhyme finally stopped.

Rong Wanyin was so frightened that her body went limp and she couldn't walk. Yan Mingzhang had to help her sit down beside the couch. Yan Mingzhang lowered his head and glanced at the button. His face flushed, he raised his chin, gestured, and quickly looked away.

Rong Wanyin only then noticed that the first button of her clothes was undone. Her face flushed with shame and she quickly turned around and buttoned it up.

After all this trouble, Rong Wanyin didn't dare to sleep anymore. Fortunately, the sky was already turning pale, and it should be dawn soon. The night was finally over.
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Although the people of Da Zhou were known for their open-mindedness, if word got out that these two people were in the same room, it would damage her reputation. To avoid being seen by the three men, Rong Wanyin quietly returned to her room before everyone else woke up. However, she didn't dare sleep anymore. She washed up and went downstairs with huge dark circles under her eyes.

Breakfast was prepared early, a big pot of sweet potato porridge in a casserole. The sweet potatoes were golden and soft, cut into thumb-sized pieces, added to the porridge, and then simmered over low heat for half an hour. Every grain of rice bloomed and exuded a sweet taste.

There were also some moon-shaped guokui (a type of flatbread) with undulating edges, each with a uniform color, resembling a chrysanthemum pattern. The guokui had a thin edge and a thick center, a puffy surface, and a crispy, beautifully colored filling. Each one was cut into four pieces. There were also several plates of exquisite pickled vegetables and hot spring eggs.

Despite the sumptuous breakfast, Rong Wanyin only ate half a bowl of porridge. Yan Mingzhang hadn't rested well the previous night and didn't have much of an appetite. The three of them looked at Rong Wanyin. She had dark circles under her eyes and looked quite absent-minded. Su Zhan jokingly asked, "Did a female ghost visit you yesterday?"

"Did you hear anyone reciting nursery rhymes yesterday?" Rong Wanyin did not answer, but asked mysteriously.

The three people said that after taking a hot spring bath yesterday, they fell asleep quickly and slept soundly without hearing any sound at all.

"Did the female ghost really go there?"

"..."

"I think it could be that crazy woman. After breakfast, let's go for a walk around the village." Yan Mingzhang said to Rong Wanyin, "The talk of ghosts and gods is nonsense. If she's not really crazy, then she's just pretending to be a ghost."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Su Zhan nodded and said, "The rumor about the living dead may not be groundless."

Hearing everyone talking about the living dead, the old man who was sweeping the floor suddenly changed his expression and knocked over a stool. The old man hurriedly picked up the stool and covered it up by saying, "I'm old... I'm not very nimble anymore."

Su Zhan didn't care about anything and asked directly with a sad look on his face, "Old man, do you know the rumors about the living dead? I heard that several people in your village have come back to life. Actually, we are here to pray to the gods. Someone in our family is seriously ill and there is no medicine or cure. We want to try our luck."

The old man looked a little unnatural and confused. He said, "There's no such thing as the living dead. It's all nonsense. It's just..."