After the ghost-hunting master descended the mountain, his fame spread throughout the capital.

"My lord! Master! Please, save my family, save the people of Pingqiao Town!" Chen Erya sobbed uncontrollably, and the others also kowtowed.

"That Magistrate Zhou, relying on his daughter being a concubine in the palace, is like a local tyrant in Pingqiao Town! He disregards the law, levies exorbitant taxes, bullies men and women, and commits all sorts of evil deeds!"

A middle-aged man, his eyes red-rimmed, said, "We ordinary people, if we disagree with anything, we'll be beaten and scolded at best, and at worst, our families will be destroyed!"

Chen Erya continued, sobbing, "We were originally servants of Magistrate Zhou's household, and our ancestors have been slaves in the Zhou family for generations."

Her voice was hoarse, filled with fear and grief, "Four months ago, the Zhou family's pampered eldest daughter accidentally fell into the water."

"When they pulled him out, he was lifeless, and his face was pale... The whole household thought he was beyond saving." A belated chill ran through her eyes.

"But strangely enough, the young lady opened her eyes again the next day! Not only was she awake, but she was also perfectly fine. Later, she was even selected to enter the palace, and I heard that she was quite favored by the nobles!"

"We all thought it was because the young lady had a noble destiny, was blessed by heaven, and that surviving such a calamity meant she would surely be blessed with good fortune..."

Chen Erya's voice suddenly became shrill, "But just a few days ago! News suddenly came from the Zhou family that the eldest young lady had suddenly contracted a serious illness in the palace, and medicine was ineffective; she was on her deathbed!"

"The Zhou family secretly hired a sorcerer to perform rituals and calculations at their residence. That sorcerer insisted that my elder sister's birth chart had clashed with the eldest young lady's destiny!"

Chen Erya trembled with excitement. "He said my older sister's life was as worthless as grass, that she had taken a lifeline that she shouldn't have had, a lifeline that should have belonged to the young lady!"

"It was precisely this stolen life force that hindered the young lady's fortunes in the palace, causing her to fall seriously ill!"

"So...so they came up with this heinous method!" Chen Erya pointed to the limp old woman on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.

"They made my older sister appear to be on the verge of death, creating the illusion that she was seriously ill and about to die."

"Then they forced us, their family members, to carry her across this bridge in this black coffin tonight at 7 PM, staging this funeral procession!"

"The sorcerer said that as long as my sister dies on the bridge at a specific time using this specific evil magic, her soul will be dragged away by something under the bridge."

"And in this way, the bad luck that the young lady suffered in the palace will naturally be resolved, and her illness... will be cured!"

"At first, my family absolutely refused! This would condemn my sister to suffer at the bottom of the river forever, never to be reborn!"

At this point, Chen Erya was overcome with grief and indignation, almost fainting:

"But they...they kidnapped my little brother, who's only eight years old, and locked him up somewhere nobody knows!"

"They said...that if we didn't obey, if we didn't act out this funeral scene as they told us to, if we didn't send my older sister off on the bridge, we'd never see my younger brother again!"

"My sister... my sister swallowed that unknown poison to save my brother, willingly letting them do this to her and send her to that bridge!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Dusheng helped up the nearly exhausted Chen Erya, but his gaze passed over her and met that of Granny Zhou.

A terrifying thought crept up her spine and into her mind, becoming crystal clear at that moment.

Jiang Dusheng slowly walked towards Zhou Mama, who was slumped on the ground. The night wind blew her skirt, but it could not dispel the low pressure that suddenly gathered around her.

She stopped in front of Granny Zhou and bowed slightly.

The shadow fell, completely covering Granny Zhou's terrified, dilated pupils.

Jiang Dusheng's voice rang out, as calm as a frozen lake in winter, "Granny Zhou."

Granny Zhou trembled, her gaze forced to focus on the girl's face. "Four months ago, your young lady accidentally fell into the water, miraculously awoke, and then, blessed with good fortune, was selected for the imperial harem..."

She paused deliberately, her gaze fixed on every subtle change in Granny Zhou's expression.

"Is she really still the true eldest daughter of your Zhou family?"

Granny Zhou trembled violently, her pupils contracted sharply, and her lips trembled, but she couldn't utter a single word.

Before she could answer, Jiang Dusheng pointed at the female ghost controlled by the bone flute, her voice suddenly turning stern:

"What is the relationship between that female ghost and you, and with the Zhou family?"