The dark night was thick, tree shadows confusing, and moonlight outside the window was shattered by the lattice, casting the face before her in half-light and half-shadow, making it appear even more grotesque and terrifying.

The Princess suddenly awakened from her sleep, extreme terror making her want to scream, but her throat seemed tightly constricted. She could only retreat timidly to the corner of the bed with her hair disheveled, while that face continued to smile mournfully, its voice seeming to float in mid-air: “I’m looking for my child. Have you seen my child?”

The Princess shook her head desperately with tears in her eyes, grabbing a pillow to shield her face, her body curled in the corner of the bed trembling violently, finally crying out in a quavering voice: “Who are you? I don’t know you!”

The woman sighed eerily, then suddenly reached out, pressing her bright red fingernails against the Princess’s neck. The Princess was frightened out of her wits, only crying and continuously begging for mercy. Suddenly she felt something viscous on her neck, and looking up abruptly, she saw blood beginning to seep from the woman’s wrist, dripping down her neck and flowing into her collar.

The Princess felt her whole body turn ice-cold, so frightened that her abdomen cramped painfully and she wanted to vomit. Fortunately, at this moment lights were already lit in the courtyard, and the servants in the yard, hearing the Princess’s screams, all rushed to the door knocking and shouting: “Princess, what’s happened?” This voice inspired courage in the Princess, and she violently pushed away the figure before her, running barefoot desperately toward the door. The door opened at that moment, and she fell into the arms of a nanny who had rushed in first.

Like a drowning person encountering driftwood, she clutched tightly to this warm body before her, crying hysterically: “There’s a ghost! There’s a ghost in my room!” Everyone was startled and quickly held up lanterns to shine into the room, but they only saw disheveled bedding and tangled gauze curtains – not a single human figure could be seen.

A steward nanny carefully asked: “There’s nothing inside. Did the Princess have a nightmare?” The Princess stood up in a daze: Was it really just a nightmare? But that smiling face under the moonlight, the ice-cold fingernails, and the blood dripping on her neck – that real and suffocating terror, how could it be false?

“Blood, there’s blood!” A maid suddenly cried out in alarm. Only then did the others discover that the Princess’s neck and chest were covered in bright red bloodstains. Everyone quickly gathered around to check if the Princess had any wounds, but the Princess’s gaze fell straight on her bed, saying: “That shoe isn’t mine…”

A nanny quickly lifted the lamp to look, and indeed saw a blue silk shoe fallen by the bedside. But where had the person wearing the shoe gone? How could they vanish into thin air the moment they pushed open the door, or was the wearer of this shoe not human at all!

The Princess was helped by servants to sit on the bed, still in shock, when suddenly someone else cried out: “What is that?” She quickly turned around and saw outside a window facing her, where tree shadows swayed gently. Under the pale moonlight shone a ghostly face glowing with blue light. Below that face was no body, and its eyes stared straight at her, lips curving up evilly.

The Princess could no longer endure such stimulation and finally rolled her eyes back, collapsing softly.

The next day, when the Princess awoke she was still in a daze, continuously muttering about ghosts in the room and unwilling to stay in the mansion for even a moment longer. Prince Qing immediately sent people to escort the Princess back. Upon hearing of this incident, the Princess felt both guilty and anxious, quickly ordering Yuanxi to take many precious medicines from the storehouse to calm the Princess’s nerves and make amends.

While the masters each had their own calculations, the servants were even more frightened by this news. Hearing the servants from the Princess’s room discuss that night’s events, the female ghost was clearly Zhui’er, whose soul was still in the marquis’s mansion – who knew how many more people she would harm before stopping. With the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, the mansion was filled with anxiety and had lost all festive spirit.

This morning, Yuanxi sat under a flowering tree, frowning as she stared at a stack of papers in her hands. Xiao Du sat down beside her and sighed with feigned melancholy: “You finally remembered your husband exists.”

But there was no trace of playfulness in Yuanxi’s eyes. She only looked up very seriously: “Don’t you think there’s something strange about the ghostly happenings in the Princess’s room?”

Seeing her serious expression, Xiao Du gradually put aside his playful mood. He had also carefully questioned people about the Princess encountering ghosts in the mansion. The servants all said it was Zhui’er’s vengeful spirit returning, mistakenly entering the Princess’s room. He had also suspected someone was manipulating things behind the scenes, but the servants claimed that ghostly faces had appeared in the mansion for half a month prior, so that night’s appearance in the Princess’s courtyard should have been mere coincidence. Moreover, Prince Qing stayed year-round at his garrison and was just a powerless feudal prince. This return to the capital was already cautious and careful – there was no reason to become enemies with the marquis’s mansion over this incident.

He truly couldn’t think of what purpose there would be if someone was playing tricks behind the scenes. Since it posed no harm to the mansion, he simply treated it as a haunting, preparing to have Zhou Jingyuan find someone to perform a ritual to put the servants’ minds at ease. He also went to comfort his mother thoroughly, and the matter was considered settled.

Now hearing Yuanxi specifically seek him out to ask, he knew she must have discovered something, so he looked at her intently and asked: “What do you think is wrong?”

Yuanxi said: “The night the Princess was endangered, they found a shoe under her bed that didn’t belong to the Princess. That shoe should have been left by Zhui’er, but if she really returned to the mansion for revenge, why would she specifically change shoes?”

Xiao Du frowned: “You mean…”

Yuanxi nodded: “I’ve already examined that shoe, but I remember very clearly – when she fell into the water, she wasn’t wearing this shoe at all.”

Xiao Du quickly asked: “So you suspect she didn’t die?” After all, only the living would need to change shoes.

But Yuanxi’s eyes were filled with confusion: “But that day so many people witnessed her drowning, and later the corpse disappeared. Moreover, if she was just playing ghost, how did she escape from that room?” All the servants who entered the Princess’s room that night insisted they saw no figure inside. If it was a living person, how could they disappear in such a short time under everyone’s watchful eyes?

Both fell silent for a moment, feeling somewhat troubled. At this time, Yuanxi looked at the stack of papers in her hands and continued: “There’s also that ghostly face hanging in the tree. I had Steward Zhou help me question all the servants who had seen the ghostly face and recorded where they encountered the ghost. As a result, I discovered that all these places were around Qixia Courtyard, and all were in wooded areas, very similar to the environment where the Princess saw the ghostly face appear that day.”

Following her reasoning, Xiao Du immediately understood her meaning: “You suspect that ghostly face being spotted before was just a cover for this one time.”

Yuanxi nodded: “I think the previous appearances of that ghostly face were intentional tests with some people to verify whether this trick would work.”

Xiao Du pondered for a moment: “What kind of trick could make a ghostly face hang alone in mid-air?”

Yuanxi shook her head: “I can’t figure it out either, so I think we should go look there to understand what’s strange about all this.”

In Qixia Courtyard, the flowers and trees were still luxuriant, but due to the ghostly rumors, it had become cold and desolate, with no one daring to approach.

Yuanxi looked at the bleak scene before her and sighed helplessly. Thinking of all the thought and investment spent on renovating this courtyard, she felt somewhat pained. This also sparked some obstinacy in her – she was determined to get to the bottom of this matter.

The two walked under the large tree directly facing the Princess’s window. Yuanxi looked up at the tree’s dense branches and murmured: “It looks like we need to go up and see.” Then she turned her gaze to Xiao Du.

Xiao Du immediately understood her meaning and glared: “I’m the dignified Marquis Xuanyuan – you want me to climb a tree?”

Yuanxi hooked his arm and said gently: “You’ve marched for many years and must be skilled at finding traces. Others can’t compare to you.”

Hearing this, Xiao Du couldn’t help but curl up the corners of his mouth slightly. So he tied up his robes, leaped up into the treetop, and carefully searched for possible traces left behind.

Finally, he discovered some strange blue powder on several branches and leaves. He quickly broke off the branch and jumped down to examine it with Yuanxi. After looking for a long time and sniffing it lightly, carefully recalling, she finally said: “Does this look like phosphorus powder to you?”

Xiao Du’s eyes lit up: “It does indeed look like phosphorus powder.”

Yuanxi quickly recalled: “Did that ghostly face only appear in the deep of night?” Then a faint smile appeared on her face: “I think I understand his trick.”