Rebirth and Marriage: I am the Mistress of the Palace

Chapter 495 Sacrifice for Love

On the second day, the Taoist priest found by Nanny Quan came to Prince Ning's mansion.

The person who came was the extremely famous Taoist priest Ji Yan in the capital. Besides him, there were ten younger Taoist priests, all of whom were his disciples.

As soon as Ji Yan arrived, he said that there was indeed an evil spirit in Prince Ning's mansion and it refused to leave in Xiao Qingyuan's yard, and that a ritual was needed to exorcise it.

Princess Ning looked solemn as she personally took Ji Yan to Xinghe Courtyard.

Set up the altar, place offerings, light incense and candles...

Xiao Qingyuan watched the Taoist priests busying themselves, and watched the smoke coming out of the incense and candles, rising up in the air, and vaguely seemed to gather into the shape of a woman.

His numb face regained some expression, and he asked Ji Yan: "After a person dies, will the soul really linger in the world of the living, unwilling to enter reincarnation for a long time?"

Ji Yan's hair and beard were all white, but his voice was like a huge bell, with a power that could shock people: "Everyone has desires, which will turn into obsessions when they die. The deeper the obsession, the harder it is to enter reincarnation. Some dead souls can even wander in the world of the living for several years. After a long time, they will forget who they are and only remember their obsessions. They will become evil spirits and bring disaster to the world."

A glimmer of hope appeared in Xiao Qingyuan's eyes: "Then, is my Nan Shi still here? Has she not entered the reincarnation cycle? Is she still by my side, unwilling to leave me?"

This time, Ji Yan did not answer him. He sat cross-legged in front of the altar. Ten disciples sat in a circle around him, and then they beat drums and chanted spells together.

After chanting the incense sticks for a while, they quickly burned out and started to scatter paper money. Then they replaced the incense sticks with new ones and continued to chant the incense sticks.

This exorcism ceremony lasted until the evening. The entire Ning Wang Mansion was filled with the smell of incense and candles, and paper money was floating everywhere.

Shen Wantang stood in her yard, watching another piece of paper money float in from outside and fall in front of her. She thought, it’s almost time, it’s almost time.

In past and present lives, certain things overlap with surprising similarities.

In the previous life, after Chu Yanluo's death, Princess Ning also invited a Taoist priest to exorcise the evil spirit for Xiao Qingyuan, and the one she invited was Ji Yan.

And after Ji Yan performed the exorcism on Xiao Qingyuan, his reputation plummeted and no one asked him to perform rituals anymore.

Because Xiao Qingyuan is dead.

The last ray of sunset disappeared and the earth fell into darkness.

Qin Xin came back from outside. She walked to Shen Wantang and whispered, "Princess, the Taoist priests have left. They said that the evil spirit in the palace has been eliminated and it is peaceful now."

Shen Wantang nodded expressionlessly: "Yeah, okay."

"Master Ji Yan also gave the prince some talisman water. After drinking it, his pale complexion improved a lot and he was willing to eat. The princess thanked him repeatedly and gave the Taoist master a big red envelope!"

Shen Wantang raised the corners of his lips into a smile without any hint of laughter: "The prince is finally getting better, thank God, Taoist Ji Yan is really capable."

"Yes, that's what everyone says!"

Qin Xin didn't notice the coldness in Shen Wantang's smile, and said to herself: "I think the prince won't be able to miss Miss Liu for too long. When he liked Aunt Chu before, he loved her to death, but not long after, he didn't like her anymore, and it will be the same this time! The prince will definitely discover the good of the prince's wife in the future, and will live a good life with you!"

"Ah."

Shen Wantang responded calmly, and then said, "Go and close the door. Don't go out tonight. Have a good rest."

Qin Xin was indeed exhausted these days: "Yes, the Crown Prince's wife still loves me! Now that everything is finally peaceful in the mansion, I will have a good sleep tonight!"

"Go and have a rest. You don't need to serve here anymore. Just leave Dujuan alone."

"Yes!"

Qin Xin responded crisply and walked towards the side room with brisk steps.

Du Juan walked to Shen Wantang holding a lantern. She had been with Shen Wantang since she was a child and was particularly sensitive to her emotional changes. Qin Xin did not notice Shen Wantang's abnormality, but she did.

"Princess, what happened?"

"No."

"But I feel that you are worried."

"It's just a small matter, it will be over soon."

Dujuan thought that if it was really just a small matter, the master would not have sent all the servants away and left only her by his side.

This gave her a feeling that something big was going to happen.

As she was thinking, she saw Shen Wantang reach out and hold her wrist: "Don't go anywhere tonight, just stay with me."

For the first time, Du Juan felt her master's trust and reliance so strongly. She placed her hand on the back of Shen Wantang's hand and said, "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere."

Shen Wantang nodded and took her back to the house.

On this day, she went to bed particularly early, and the entire Ning Wang Mansion also went to bed earlier than usual.

Everything seemed peaceful and tranquil.

It was not until the next morning that a guard rushed in from outside and brought back the news that Xiao Qingyuan had jumped into the river and committed suicide.

When Princess Ning heard the news, she fainted on the spot.

Prince Ning felt a pain in his chest and spat out a mouthful of blood, but he still forced himself to leave the palace to see his son with his own eyes.

An hour later, he returned with Xiao Qingyuan's body.

Princess Ning, who had just been rescued by Shen Wantang, fainted again.

Xiao Qingxi stared blankly at the corpse covered by the white cloth: "No, it's impossible! This can't be my brother! How could my brother commit suicide?! I don't believe it, I don't believe it!!"

She said she didn't believe it, but she didn't dare to lift the white cloth to take a look.

Prince Ning's face was filled with grief, and he ordered Shen Wantang in a hoarse voice: "Send someone to report the death to the palace!"

"Yes."

"Go find Lu Qiying from the Ministry of Justice. My son couldn't have committed suicide. Someone must have murdered him! I want to get to the bottom of this and avenge my son!"

"Yes."

Shen Wantang agreed to everything and then turned and left.

She took care of everything in an orderly manner, announcing the death, setting up the mourning hall, etc.

White lanterns were soon hung throughout the palace, and white banners were hung in front of the door. The servants in the palace also changed into mourning clothes. Everyone walked in a hurry and did not dare to speak loudly.

Shen Wantang looked at the whiteness all around and felt as if she had returned to her previous life.

In her previous life, after Xiao Qingyuan died, she and Liao Youhe came to mourn together. At that time, the Ning Palace was similar to it is now, grief-stricken and dead silent.

Shen Wantang's mood was similar to that in his previous life, neither sad nor happy, and he didn't feel much.

She just felt for a moment that everything in this life seemed to be no different from her previous life. People who died in the previous life also died one after another in this life, following the same trajectory as their previous life.

Although she had contributed to this, the high degree of similarity in fate still made Shen Wantang feel vaguely uneasy.

Servants kept coming to give instructions, and Shen Wantang had to make decisions on both big and small matters. She soon had no time to think about anything else and was so busy that she had no time to rest.

The news that Xiao Qingyuan committed suicide by jumping into the river for Liu Nanshi spread like wildfire and soon spread throughout the capital.