Who is spreading rumors that my filial piety towards them has changed?

"Did he end up sleeping with a female ghost?"

Gu Wenkai blushed and explained with shame:

"I couldn't help her much, so I gave her some silver, but the girl was kind-hearted and said she couldn't take my silver for nothing, so..."

Chu Mingkong was too lazy to ask for the specific details: "Then why did you say you went into that brothel?"

"I was afraid that the frail girl would encounter something unclean while walking alone at night, but I couldn't help her much, so I sent her back to the brothel, where the environment was quite nice."

But after I came back, I started having nightmares. In my dreams, it was that girl, but she was deathly pale and terrifying, asking me if I would marry her.

Later on, much like what Grandpa Gu said, the whole family gradually started having these nightmares about seeing ghosts.

Chu Mingkong wasn't one of those doctors who could judge a person's vitality and spirit, but he wasn't so incapable of not being able to tell whether someone's complexion was good or bad. The Gu family members did indeed have some loss of vital energy.

The impact is not significant for the time being, possibly because the female ghost is not very strong, or because she came to Xiling and was weakened to some extent.

If this continues, the Gu family will become weak from the torment, and the impact will become more and more severe. Like an anthill on a dam, once a small hole appears, it may suddenly ulcerate and collapse one day.

"Did you bring back anything that belonged to the female ghost?" Chu Mingkong pondered this possibility.

"Absolutely not, how could I bring women's things around like that!" Gu Wenkai shook his head violently, denying it outright, which didn't seem like a lie.

"Can you sense the location of that female ghost or something?"

Gu Wenkai shook his head again.

Chu Mingkong thought about it and realized that if he could sense the existence of that thing, he wouldn't have gone to talk to a "poor woman" in the middle of the night.

He then inquired whether the Gu family members dreamed during the day, and received a negative answer.

This means that the female ghost disturbs the house in the dead of night, and we may have to wait until night to confirm it.

Chu Mingkong did not specialize in cultivating spiritual perception, but he considered his perception to be quite strong, above average. However, since entering the Gu family, he had not detected any unusual aura.

In this situation, even if he went to every corner to carefully perceive it, the result would not be much different.

"You rest well. I'll see if I can catch this troublesome thing tonight. Don't worry... Have your maid dilute this medicine before you take it. One drop of medicine in a large bowl of water. Everyone else in the Gu family can take it this way."

Chu Mingkong changed to a bottle of Golden Crow Jade Essence that he hadn't used in a long time.

This item is no longer of much use to the girl beside him, but it is still a rare treasure for ordinary people. The extreme yang energy within it can replenish the life essence that the Gu family has lost in the past few days, and it can also temporarily exorcise ghosts.

The ghosts in this world are quite pitiful. Extreme yang power is inherently effective against such yin and evil spirits, while extreme yin power is effective against everything. Neither side shows any favoritism towards the ghosts.

Definitely an orphan.

Chu Mingkong and Gu Jungui walked out of Gu Wenkai's room. Old Master Gu was getting old and his body had "shrunk," but he still walked briskly and quickly came over to ask about the situation.

"How is Your Highness? Have you noticed anything amiss?"

"This female ghost has most likely come back with us, but it doesn't show up during the day and usually only appears at night. I'll stay at the Gu residence tonight to deal with this ghost. Don't worry, Master!"

When Old Master Gu heard that Chu Mingkong had left a medicinal liquid with extremely yang energy in Gu Wenkai's room, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief and ordered a maid to go in and fetch the medicine, mix it into a decoction, and distribute it to everyone in the Gu family.

"It's such a small matter that Your Highness has to take care of it. I'm truly flattered. I'll have the maidservant prepare the room for Your Highness right away!"

After Chu Mingkong arrogantly entered Gu Wenkai's room, the women of the Gu family waited outside.

Hearing that he would be staying at the Gu residence that night filled him with excitement.

The slender and graceful young women of the Gu family couldn't wait to say:

"I will take care of Your Highness's daily needs tonight. Those maids and servants are ignorant and might offend Your Highness!"

“???” The maid of the Gu family felt a growing chill in her heart.

But the several charming and fair-skinned wives of the Gu family easily subdued their daughter, scolding her with stern eyes:

"You can't even take care of yourselves. You need maids to bring you water and wash your towels just to wash your faces. How can you take care of His Highness?"

"!!!" The maid of the Gu family felt a renewed sense of hope. Could it be...?

The graceful young women exchanged flirtatious glances with Chu Mingkong, their eyes brimming with longing.

"Your Highness, we'll take care of you!"

Miss Gu and her maid: "..."

Gu Jun Gui was about to get angry with them. What kind of people were they? Didn't they see I was here? Did they even have a share of this place?

Chu Mingkong gently tugged at her, glanced at the women of the Gu family, and said to the old man:

“Grandpa Gu, Aunt Gu has taken care of me since I was a child. She also took care of me a lot when I was in the capital. I’m used to it. Besides, I’m here tonight to exorcise ghosts and bring peace to the house, not to enjoy a good night’s sleep. You don’t need to worry about me. Just have a room for me to sit in until midnight.”

Grandpa Gu didn't try too hard to force it. He certainly wanted Chu Mingkong to take a liking to one of his young ladies, so that their future relationship would be even closer. But some things can't be forced. The Gu family's affection for him was already enough, thanks to Gu Jun Gui's care for him when he was a child.

“After all, Jun Gui has already married into the Cui family. If she ever causes gossip because of her presence by Your Highness’s side, Your Highness can allow Jun Gui to return to the Cui family. Although she is married, she still has the blood of the Gu family. Your Highness need not worry that we will mistreat Jun Gui.”

"Not at all, I've never been afraid of those rumors. Aunt Gu took such good care of me before, how could I distance myself from her because of what people say? I plan to keep Aunt Gu by my side forever so I can enjoy a comfortable life. Grandpa, you can rest assured!"

Having a widow by your side isn't exactly a good thing, but this "not a good thing" refers to the fear that Aunt Gu might be gossiped about behind her back and become unbearable. For Chu Mingkong, however, it doesn't matter. Of all his reputations and deeds, the one about draining the female members of his enemy's royal family is almost universally known, and now he's added the one about assassinating the emperor.

Those taboos and evils in the eyes of the world are not worth mentioning in him.

Chu Mingkong also wanted to take this opportunity to express his determination to keep Aunt Gu by his side, so that the Gu family would not secretly contact Aunt Gu and ask her to go back in the future.

It was considered unseemly for a married woman to leave her husband's family and live with another man; aristocratic families were very concerned about such matters of honor.

Now that Chu Mingkong has spoken, the Gu family can no longer say anything behind his back. If they take any action, it will be considered a direct confrontation with him. If anyone uses this matter against the Gu family in the future, the Gu family can directly ask him for help to resolve the issue.

Giving Aunt Gu a formal title or something will probably require some work later, but for now, the priority is to resolve any potential problems and ensure she stays by my side with peace of mind.

"Besides, my deep bond with Aunt Gu is recognized by the gods in the New Moon Kingdom," Chu Mingkong added.

Upon hearing this, Gu Jun Gui remained silent, her face flushed with shyness, as beautiful as a peach blossom. She was secretly annoyed by his nonsense and glared at him.

The wives all felt something was off, but they couldn't quite put their finger on it; they were just very envious.

Chapter Eighteen: The cabinet really moved!

Night gradually fell.

Chu Mingkong spent the entire day visiting his family, being pulled aside to meet with his younger siblings in the clan, mostly to share his experiences and insights as an outstanding senior.

Chu Mingkong had no idea what to say. Unlike the Cui family's ambitions, the Gu family did not require their members to cultivate. If they were lucky enough to have a talented child, they would try their best. If they didn't have any talent, they would honestly learn business, get married, have children, and live an ordinary life.

Chu Mingkong couldn't offer these experiences, so he could only say things like drink more hot water, exercise more, open windows for ventilation, and move around more.

After he finished talking to his younger siblings, he was pulled aside by the young woman from the Gu family for some pleasantries. Her gaze was so intense, it was as if she wanted to devour him.

His words included things like, "There are rumors on the street that His Highness is fond of married women, especially older ones. Is that true?" and "I think this tendency is good. It shows that His Highness is a mature person who enjoys chatting and interacting with mature women."

Fortunately, he could still use the excuse of "preparing to exorcise ghosts" to find an opportunity to slip away and hide in Aunt Gu's old room to brush paper stickers.

Aunt Gu's boudoir still retains its appearance before her marriage. There is nothing about it that exudes a girlish atmosphere. The decorations of this era do not have a girlish pink vibe. They are mostly simple and elegant mahogany furnishings.

Occasionally, I can still see the origami cranes I folded on my dressing table. The paper is yellowed, but the delicacy and care I put into folding them back then have been preserved.

[Chu Mingkong: Qingning, I have some questions for you about exorcism...]

Chu Mingkong recounted the "case." As a man of principle, he did not break his promise to Gu Wenkai and did not reveal his name, using "a certain son-in-law of a top scholar in the Gu family who does not wish to reveal his identity" as his code name.

So heartwarming!

Wei Qingning was with Jinyu and Yongzhen, two princesses of different generations. They discovered that Qingning was exchanging notes with Chu Mingkong and learned that it was about a ghost. They all wanted to gossip about the situation.

[Wei Qingning: Princess Jinyu and Princess Yongzhen also want to know, may I ask?]

[Chu Mingkong: Don't be so formal with their titles; just call them by their names. They won't mind. If they want to know, just say so. But remember not to mention the name of the second son-in-law, Gu Wenkai. Keep his name a secret!]

Wei Qingning: ...Okay.

"How dare this young master come out in the middle of the night? If it were me, I definitely wouldn't talk to him. It's a bit scary to see a woman crying on the roadside so late at night!" Jin Yu has a strong imagination and is very good at imagining things. In addition, since it happened in the Gu family, she was a little frightened.

"I'm curious about what kind of existence this ghost is. Is it a spirit or something? Is its ability to hide so well that even Mingkong couldn't find it? Could it be hiding inside a wardrobe?"

Yongzhen used her internal energy to move the wardrobe remotely, which startled Jinyu, who immediately hugged Wei Qingning tightly.

"The cabinet moved! Qingning, quickly call Mingkong back!"

Wei Qingning's good mood for the whole day was ruined the moment Jin Yu's soft, plump, pink breasts brushed against her...

Is it really possible for such soft flesh to grow in this location?

I don't believe it! It must be fake!

Chu Mingkong looked at the note with a puzzled expression, scratching his head and saying, "Huh, what's going on? Why did Qingning suddenly stop talking? Is this kind of ghost so hard to deal with?"

Fortunately, we finally received a response.

Wei Qingning: Ghosts don't say unnecessary things just to scare people. Ghosts who frequently say the same things in dreams are mostly those who died because of resentment related to "marriage".

However, this ghost hasn't managed to kill anyone in the past few days, so it's not very strong. Brother, when it comes out tonight, just kill it.

She then gave a further instruction: wielding weapons haphazardly would not harm this invisible ghost; one should either use spiritual energy to bombard it or borrow the "intention" within the weapon's realm to injure the female ghost.

For Chu Mingkong, this was not a problem. He even had the means to use to creatively research how to torture Gui Chong to death.

After some thought, Chu Mingkong finally decided that he would first drink a sip of Golden Crow Jade Marrow, and then spit on the female ghost when he saw her.

Fighting and killing is truly unseemly, and if one is not careful and does not control the force well, it is easy to injure innocent people who are in charge of the family.

......

A chat among stay-at-home moms in the evening.

Chu Mingkong went to make preparations, and the young women of the Gu family didn't want to disturb him, so they pulled Gu Jungui aside to chat.

Although Chu Mingkong was "sleeping" in the same room with her tonight—well, actually, he was guarding Gu Jungui and waiting for the female ghost to appear—the thought of not being able to be alone with Chu Mingkong in the same room made them feel a pang of jealousy.

Before going to sleep, she pulled Gu Jungui over to chat.

We can't keep you company, and you shouldn't either. Just stay here and chat with us!

"Jun Gui, look at your complexion! You're radiant! Even after all these years of widowhood, you look much better than us. Ming Kong must have been feeding you a lot, right?"

"Uh... I haven't tried it yet." Gu Jun Gui said, thinking to himself: I think I've only secretly tried it once.

"You look so healthy without taking any supplements? How do you do that?!" the young woman exclaimed in surprise.

Gu Jun'an and Gu Jungui are considered sisters. Although it seems that Gu Jungui inexplicably took her place as the daughter-in-law of the wealthy family back then, the Gu family doesn't really make comparisons.

Gu Jun'an was also open-minded. It was the Cui family who had chosen Jun Gui to be their daughter-in-law. She could only say that she didn't have that kind of luck, and it couldn't be said that Gu Jun Gui "stole her destiny" or anything like that.