Marquis Kang paused for a very long time!

Only then did he say, “Actually, those shoes belonged to my child.”

“The Marquis’s child?”

Marquis Kang nodded, looking both heartbroken and frowning as he said, “Speaking of which, it’s quite strange. When I married my first wife, three years after she entered the household, she gave birth to my first child. But when the child was two years old, he suddenly drowned in the pond. My wife also died of illness afterward. Later, I married several more wives in succession, but they all died within a year of entering the household. Others said it was ghosts causing trouble, so I invited Taoist priests to come perform rituals. The Taoist priest said it was the ghost of my first child causing havoc, and told me to take something related to the child and enshrine it in the ancestral hall. So I enshrined my child’s little shoes. But unexpectedly, just a month ago, those shoes suddenly disappeared. The entire residence was searched, but all the maids and servants said they hadn’t seen them. I also ordered people to search outside the residence, but there were still no results. I thought if they were gone, so be it, but…”

Saying this, Marquis Kang paused.

Ji Yunshu seemed to catch the meaning within and, seeing him holding his forehead with a worried frown, took over his words and said, “But ever since that pair of little shoes disappeared, strange incidents have been happening continuously in the residence, correct?”

Marquis Kang suddenly raised his head to look at her and nodded repeatedly. “Exactly, exactly! Very strange!”

“So, when I entered yesterday and saw a blood-red child’s handprint on the Marquis’s residence plaque, that was also one of these strange incidents?”

“That’s right. It was the day after the shoes went missing that the child’s handprint appeared on the plaque. Master, on your way in, you should have also seen those several trees in the courtyard, right? Perfectly good trees suddenly tangled together. And that artificial mountain over there—for some unknown reason, it all collapsed overnight. There are many other strange incidents that Master couldn’t imagine. Now everyone in the residence is worried.”

So that was it!

It seemed those strangely collapsed artificial rocks from last night were also part of this so-called “haunting by ghosts”?

Ji Yunshu said, “Then why doesn’t the Marquis have those things cleaned up?”

“I don’t dare to clean them up. If something were disturbed, then that would be…” He didn’t dare say more.

Ji Yunshu thought for a moment. “Has anyone died in the residence?”

“No one has died, but… over a dozen people have fallen ill. They’re all lying in bed unable to get up, saying their whole bodies hurt. But when doctors came to examine them, there were no symptoms. This is what’s strange. If it were just one person, that would be one thing, but now over a dozen people are ill. Combined with all these strange incidents, this Marquis worries whether it might be my child’s ghost causing havoc.” As he spoke, Marquis Kang trembled several times.

Afraid of his own child!

What kind of father was he!

Ji Yunshu had never believed in ghosts.

After listening to the story, Jingrong asked, “Since so many strange incidents have occurred, hasn’t the Marquis sent people to investigate?”

“Investigate? How to investigate? It’s ghosts causing trouble—how can one investigate?”

This was truly exasperating.

Jingrong suddenly said, “My lord Marquis, there’s simply no such thing as ghosts in this world.”

Marquis Kang said, “How can there not be? If there aren’t any, then how do you explain those strange incidents that occurred?”

He threw up his hands!

Ji Yunshu said, “Since the Marquis believes it’s ghosts causing trouble, why still seek me out to investigate? I look for criminals, for people—I’m not some Maoshan Taoist priest who catches ghosts.”

At this, Marquis Kang was left speechless.

“This shows that in the Marquis’s heart, you actually also believe these strange incidents are man-made.”

Marquis Kang let out a sigh, waved his sleeve, and slapped his hand on his thigh, saying, “Even if my heart thinks it’s man-made, so what? The incidents that have occurred are indeed strange!”

She said, “My lord Marquis, there are simply no ghosts in this world. Even if there truly were, they would just be people in disguise.”

“People?” Marquis Kang asked. “Why does Master say this? If it were people, how could they possibly do these things without anyone knowing?”

“This I temporarily don’t know, but please trust me, my lord Marquis—these various incidents are absolutely not the work of ghosts.”

Although she said this, Marquis Kang’s heart still felt cold, and his complexion didn’t look too good either.

After pausing for a while, he said, “Master Ji, I know you’re excellent at solving cases. Please help me catch this ghost. This Marquis absolutely won’t treat you poorly.”

Catch the ghost!

Ji Yunshu was speechless.

After saying so much, why was this Marquis Kang so stubborn and unable to turn his thinking around?

But she was thinking—they were about to reach the capital, and Wei Yi was still waiting for them. But given the current situation, Marquis Kang was clearly determined to detain her to stay and catch ghosts.

She glanced at Jingrong beside her, trying to seek his opinion.

Jingrong maintained an indifferent expression on his face. After receiving her glance, he said to Marquis Kang, “Marquis Kang, this prince still has important matters at hand and won’t be staying here long.”

“I know. You need to return to the capital—the Emperor’s secret edict summoned you.”

Eh!

Jingrong was shocked.

“How does the Marquis know?”

He had thought this fellow who spent all day eating and living off his countless treasures would be oblivious to outside affairs, but unexpectedly, he even knew about this kind of thing.

Marquis Kang didn’t want to keep them in suspense anymore and said directly, “Actually, I knew from the time when the assembled ministers petitioned to recommend Prince Yi as Crown Prince. What does the Emperor hate most? He hates people forcing him. Even if something was originally meant for you, if you push too hard, he’ll increasingly refuse to give it to you. Based on my understanding of the Emperor, he would definitely have started changing his mind at that time, hoping you could hurry back to the capital to counter Prince Yi’s power. So when you arrived in Jingzhou, I already knew.”

This fellow was indeed formidable!

He continued, “That group of people you encountered in the forest were actually barbarians. They had previously killed people, and the county magistrate imprisoned them, but somehow they escaped. So I was asked to deploy my household troops to capture them. I had also sent people to wait on the road to the capital to await Your Highness. Unexpectedly, the two matters coincided. Fortunately, Your Highness came through unscathed, and we were able to invite you here.”

Yes, he used the word “invite”!

Jingrong smiled. “Since the Marquis already knows, you should even less detain this prince’s journey. As for this case, you should hand it to someone else.”

“But Your Highness, can you actually return to the capital?” Marquis Kang said. “Right now, that Chief Minister Ji in the capital has long since deployed troops outside the city. You cannot return to the capital, and the Emperor won’t publicly announce the secret edict and slap his own face. So you must find your own way back to the capital.”

His tone was heavy.

Jingrong’s brow furrowed slightly as he said, “If the Marquis has something to say, you might as well speak plainly.”

He got straight to the point. “As long as Master Ji helps me resolve this matter, I’ll help you return to the capital. First, the Emperor’s secret edict won’t need to be made public. Second, it will also allow Your Highness to remain in the capital with proper justification, without having to return to the Imperial Prefecture.”

He was just that confident!