In this lifetime, through a stroke of fortune, Shang Qinglan gained imperial favor a year earlier than in her previous life. Moreover, just as in that previous life, once she first received favor, it never waned. Emperor Jiajing was enchanted by her charming naivety, youth, simplicity, and lack of guile. Being with her made him feel as if he’d taken an elixir of immortality, floating in bliss, even feeling himself growing younger!

Everyone’s time is limited. Emperor Jiajing, despite being emperor, couldn’t have more than twelve hours in a day like ordinary people. After all, time management masters are a minority. As Emperor Jiajing spent longer periods playing with his new favorite, he had less time left for cultivating immortality and alchemy.

Moreover, Emperor Jiajing was still an emperor. Though he hadn’t attended court for over thirty years, he still had to handle state affairs daily and firmly maintain imperial power and ruling authority in his hands. This emperor who never attended court had never been marginalized by his ministers – the energy and time this required goes without saying.

Emperor Jiajing’s daily routine changed from governing the state and cultivating immortality to governing the state and playing with Shang Qinglan. Lan Daoxing soon discovered he was being neglected.

In the previous life, Lan Daoxing could still endure it, thinking Emperor Jiajing was just experiencing temporary novelty and would soon cast her aside to return to the embrace of immortality cultivation.

But he never waited for that day. Shang Qinglan’s prominence grew ever greater, with promotions every period – from Beauty to Talented Lady to Noble Lady to Jieyu to Zhaoyi to Concubine, and reportedly about to be elevated to Imperial Concubine. Palace people all followed the wind, stepping on the low while lifting the high, flocking to flatter Shang Qinglan. Even Wei Caiwei, the female official managing her affairs, became a new palace favorite whose power and influence was about to surpass Lan Daoxing’s.

Lan Daoxing felt that continuing this way would lead to complete loss of favor. He decided to use illusions and tricks to regain imperial grace. This time, he not only wanted to gain the emperor’s heart but also wanted the new palace favorite Shang Qinglan to be grateful to him, believe in him unwaveringly, and become a devout follower.

Thus, Lan Daoxing created the illusion of black specters haunting the palace. Exploiting Shang Qinglan’s love of play, on a night in the eighth month when they climbed high to admire the moon, he began his plan of crying thief while being the thief himself.

Daily he used Shang Qinglan’s used handkerchiefs to train a small dog that had been poisoned mute – since most legendary black specters took canine form – ensuring the dog was familiar with Shang Qinglan’s scent to find and attack the target.

On the day of action, he coated the dog’s fur with paint mixed with green fluorescent powder. This paint looked ordinary during the day, but at night it emitted an eerie green glow like ghostly fire.

That night when Shang Qinglan was touring Rabbit Hill, the black specter appeared and charged at her. Simultaneously, Lan Daoxing’s bought accomplice secretly covered his mouth and nose with damp cloth and lit black smoke that caused unconsciousness and hallucinations.

According to legend, black specters always appeared accompanied by black vapors.

Wherever the dog went, black smoke filled the sky. Whether palace guards or attending palace maids and eunuchs, all inhaled the black smoke and were affected – some fainted, others hallucinated, seeing various imagined demons and monsters in their visions, fleeing in terror with no one left to rescue Shang Qinglan.

When the black specter appeared, Wei Caiwei made a snap decision, pushing Shang Qinglan into a cave and telling her to take the cave route down the mountain to meet up with the guards.

Shang Qinglan was scared senseless. Without thinking much, she ran off. Wei Caiwei watched the approaching green light, and not believing in ghosts and spirits and having weathered great storms, immediately calmed down, thinking it strange – Rabbit Hill had at least a hundred people on their night tour, so why was the black specter pursuing only Shang Qinglan relentlessly?

Wei Caiwei steeled herself, broke off two tree branches to wield as weapons, and guarded the cave entrance, preventing the black specter from entering to chase Shang Qinglan – one woman holding the pass against all comers.

Just as the black specter drew closer and Wei Caiwei was about to swing her branches to fight it, she heard a whistle. The black specter suddenly stopped mid-pursuit and went off in the direction of the whistle.

Wei Caiwei found this strange and took up her branch to chase the black specter instead. But suddenly a wave of black smoke came toward her. Wei Caiwei inhaled something that smelled like grass after rain, then succumbed to the hallucinogenic smoke and fell into visions.

In the hallucination, she shrank small and returned to the place of her eternal nightmare – the birthing room where her sister died in difficult labor. Her sister’s blood had soaked through the bedding, her eyes wide open with pupils dilated, mouth agape in a silent scream.

Little her was powerless to help. Wang Pozi and Chen Dalang were going to kill her to silence her. Wei Caiwei ran frantically until she reached the Spinning Wheel Platform at Rabbit Hill’s highest point.

Meanwhile, Shang Qinglan ran down from the cave. Just as she emerged from the cave entrance, she saw the green-glowing canine black specter charging straight at her!

“Help me!”

Shang Qinglan cried out, covering her head and trying to run back into the cave, but her foot caught on something and she fell to the ground. Watching the black specter draw nearer, she almost despairingly closed her eyes.

“Bold demon!”

Lan Daoxing arrived just in time wearing his Taoist robes. He wielded a peachwood sword, holding talismans, chanting: “Heaven and earth mysterious sect, myriad energies’ fundamental root! Ghosts and demons lose courage, spirits and monsters lose form. Within lies thunderbolt, thunder god’s hidden name. Penetrating wisdom interconnects, five energies surging. Golden light swiftly appears, protecting this true person’s body. Light of heaven, light of earth, light of sun, moon and stars, universal great light, light upon light illuminating all directions. I respectfully invoke the Supreme Lord Lao – urgent as law commands!”

As he finished, a golden light burst from Lan Daoxing’s wooden sword, shooting directly at the black specter. Immediately sparks flew everywhere, so bright that Shang Qinglan closed her eyes.

When she opened them, the black specter had vanished. Lan Daoxing helped Shang Qinglan up. “Is Your Ladyship unharmed? Rest assured, the demon black specter has been eliminated by this poor Taoist – it will harm Your Ladyship no more.”

Just as Shang Qinglan was about to thank Lan Daoxing, she suddenly heard a piercing scream from the mountaintop. Looking up, under the full moon, a woman’s figure was running frantically on the Spinning Wheel Platform at the summit, waving branches. Though she couldn’t see the face clearly, by the voice she knew it was Wei Caiwei.

Wei Caiwei brandished her branches while shouting loudly: “I’m not afraid of you! You killed my sister! Even as evil ghosts, I fear you not! If you dare haunt me, I’ll beat you to death!”

It turned out that even under hallucination, Wei Caiwei’s heart remained strong. After being chased by Wang Pozi and Chen Dalang all the way to the Spinning Wheel Platform, her fighting spirit and never-say-die attitude were triggered. She actually stabilized herself, seeking survival in the nightmare and launching a counterattack.

In the illusion, Wei Caiwei lashed at the two evil ghosts with her branches. The ghosts were beaten back repeatedly as Wei Caiwei turned defeat to victory, pursuing relentlessly. But this wasn’t entirely good news – in the hallucination, she was on the plains of Five Li River in the capital’s suburbs, surrounded by farmland as she hunted the two evil ghosts. But in reality, the Spinning Wheel Platform was at the summit of Rabbit Hill in the Forbidden City, and she was about to fall off the cliff.

Shang Qinglan broke out in cold sweat. Forgetting to thank Lan Daoxing, she waved her arms frantically, screaming: “Stop quickly! Don’t go forward! Don’t go forward! Don’t go forward!”

But Wei Caiwei in the hallucination couldn’t hear Shang Qinglan’s cries. In the midst of her victorious pursuit, how could she possibly let go of the evil ghosts who killed her sister?

Back then I personally killed you two and avenged my sister. Now I can kill you again.

Victory lay ahead!

Just as the crazed Wei Caiwei was about to lose her footing and plunge from the Spinning Wheel Platform, Eunuch Wang rushed to the scene after hearing the news and grabbed her tightly, pulling her back from the cliff’s edge, barely escaping disaster.

Eunuch Wang carried the thrashing Wei Caiwei – who struggled like a large carp – down from Rabbit Hill. She continued her frenzy until midnight when exhaustion finally made her fall into unconscious sleep.

When she awoke, Shang Qinglan had been by her side the whole time, her eyes red from staying up. “You’re finally awake. Last night you nearly fell from the Spinning Wheel Platform. Though it’s not very high, there are decorative rocks and stones below – falling would have meant certain death.”

Wei Caiwei ached everywhere, like the morning after a night of passion with Eunuch Wang. Seeing Shang Qinglan unharmed, her heart eased somewhat.

Later, when discussing her experience with Eunuch Wang, Wei Caiwei raised a question: “Before losing consciousness, I heard a whistle, and the black specter went off in the whistle’s direction. Don’t you find that strange? How does a demon act like a dog, running when it hears a whistle? I think there’s something fishy about this.”

Eunuch Wang worked for the Eastern Depot then. Though he feared ghosts, he chose to believe his wife. Since Wei Caiwei found suspicious points, he investigated carefully, practically turning over all of Rabbit Hill searching for evidence. Finally, near where Shang Qinglan had fallen, hunting dogs barked frantically at one spot and clawed at the fallen leaves with their front paws.

Eunuch Wang dug almost three feet deep and unearthed a small dog emitting green fluorescence – this was the legendary black specter.

Lan Daoxing claimed to have cast spells to eliminate the black specter and save Shang Qinglan, but the black specter was just a dead dog.

Eunuch Wang didn’t dare move against Lan Daoxing directly, so he arrested several of his disciples. After interrogation, he exposed Lan Daoxing’s plan of stealing while crying thief, all to compete for favor.

Eunuch Wang presented the human and material evidence to Emperor Jiajing, who flew into a rage. Lan Daoxing had dared put his beloved concubine Shang Qinglan in danger – an unforgivable crime. He immediately had Lan Daoxing thrown into the Eastern Depot prison.

Thus, Lan Daoxing’s nearly ten years of imperial favor dissipated like this – ten years of prosperous dreams, gone like passing clouds. The Taoist whom even Chief Minister Yan Song respectfully called Immortal Lan had fallen just like that.

Lan Daoxing had been personally elevated by Emperor Jiajing. The ruler could not err – only the minister could be wrong. To cover up the emperor’s “poor judgment in recognizing character,” Emperor Jiajing granted him a cup of poisoned wine to end Lan Daoxing’s life.

Wei Caiwei personally delivered the poisoned wine: “All who harmed me came to no good end. Immortal Lan, time to go.”

Pursuing wealth, power and position wasn’t wrong – in this palace, who didn’t have ambitions for fame and profit? But harming others was wrong.

In this lifetime, Shang Qinglan gained favor earlier, and Lan Daoxing also used the black specter to frighten her earlier.

In the previous life, the incident occurred at Rabbit Hill. In this lifetime, with sandstorms raging outside for a month preventing Shang Qinglan from going out to play, the black specter appeared in her Yude Palace.

This lifetime, without Wei Caiwei’s protection, Shang Qinglan was literally scared unconscious.

Yude Palace was located in the Western Six Palaces. Lan Daoxing served the emperor in the Western Garden and couldn’t enter the rear palace.

So there was Lan Daoxing’s inside accomplice in Yude Palace. That dead dog disguised as a black specter might still be buried somewhere in Yude Palace.

Who did it? Where was the dead dog buried? Wei Caiwei’s gaze moved among the palace servants attending Yude Palace.

Author’s Note: While writing about catching monsters at Rabbit Hill, my desk suddenly shook violently, and my computer and keyboard vibrated with it for five seconds, like a haunting. It scared me into a cold sweat. I quickly checked and found it was a magnitude 3 earthquake in Laoshan District. Please comfort and pet me – protect Lanzhou’s fragile little heart.

Caiwei is ruthless in both lifetimes – meeting people, she kills people; meeting ghosts, she kills ghosts. Wang Daxia wouldn’t work – he’s super afraid of ghosts, even afraid of his own memorial tablet.

Note 1: This incantation comes from Taoism’s “Golden Light Mantra”