nucmednet Chapter 362 The Haunted West Courtyard
Chapter 362 The Haunted West Courtyard
It was Zhao Ning who contacted him.
Feng Zizhou realized he had figured out his second sister's thoughts and assumed that Zhao Ning had also discovered the Prince of Ning's thoughts and was in a hurry to inform him. So he told his second sister and left with the maid.
About 15 minutes earlier, Gui Yuan found Zhao Ning and said...
“Princess, I have something to give you.”
Zhao Ning asked curiously, "What is it?"
Gui Yuan smiled mysteriously: "Come with me. I don't want anyone else to see this. I only want you to see it."
Zhao Ning considered himself to be on good terms with Gui Yuan and was happy to go with her.
But as I walked along, I started to feel that something was wrong.
To the east of the royal villa is a courtyard, complete with a stream, a pond with a thousand carp, artificial hills, and bridges. Ladies sit inside chatting, while young ladies outside admire flowers, play the zither, or compose poetry. On the other side, gentlemen play arrow-throwing games and archery across the stream, thoroughly enjoying themselves.
However, the villa is separated from the west side by a covered corridor, then a wall, and a hanging flower gate. That area has been deserted for a long time and is almost abandoned.
It's not really abandoned; the royal family regularly sends people to clean and maintain it, but hardly anyone goes there.
There was a very deep pond over there, but the water had dried up, and the bottom was overgrown with tall grass and trees, so tall that the bottom could not be seen. Originally, someone had cleaned it, but legend has it that one year, when two palace maids were cleaning the pond, they either accidentally fell in or for some other reason, and neither of them came up again.
The next day, when a headcount was taken, they discovered that someone was missing. After searching around, they found out that someone had fallen into the water.
Given the size of the imperial court, the deaths of two palace maids were hardly unusual.
But ever since then, on the same day every year, people have seen two female ghosts in red near the pond. The people in the inner court are terrified, and no one dares to come near that day.
Later, an order was given to drain the pond, where they discovered numerous skeletons, more than just one or two. All of them were removed, and the drain outlet was blocked.
Coincidentally, the people who carried the remains that day all died from boils, each one more gruesome than the last.
Moreover, the female ghost used to appear every year, but later it started appearing intermittently. As a result, no one came here anymore, and the West Garden was only used for major sacrificial ceremonies.
Zhao Ning had heard these rumors before, and she took Gui Yuan's hand and asked, "Yuan Yuan, why did you bring me here?"
"I'll show you something good."
Zhao Ning was a little scared and shook her head, saying, "No...no, I've heard this place is haunted, let's not go."
Guiyuan laughed: "You're actually afraid of ghosts? You used to tell me ghost stories every day, but you weren't afraid at all."
"That's because there are too many people. Today, neither the maid nor the mother are here; it's just the two of us, so naturally I'm scared."
Guiyuan patted her hand: "I'm here for you, aren't I? Don't be afraid, those rumors are false. Besides, the rumors say it's the Ghost Festival in July, but it's winter now, so the time doesn't match up."
Zhao Ning still didn't dare.
Gui Yuan asked doubtfully, "Are you so timid? Let me tell you, I've prepared a very big gift for you. Don't you really want to go and see it?"
Zhao Ning disliked being called a coward, and she really wanted to see Gui Yuan's gift. She also figured it wouldn't hurt to be together, so she steeled herself and followed Gui Yuan in that direction.
As we walked, we came to the legendary deep pond.
In fact, Zhao Ning had only heard about it and had never been there before, so she didn't know what the place was like. When she arrived, she felt that the scene in front of her was exactly the same as the legend, and fear arose in her heart.
“Yuanyuan, we…”
Before she could finish speaking, she was knocked unconscious by a single blow.
The one who knocked her unconscious was a tall eunuch, who looked at Gui Yuan.
He was a pawn planted by Lord Gui at the royal villa, well hidden, but unexpectedly, the first time the Gui family asked him to take action was to deal with the county princess.
What does this mean?
Gui Yuan slowly walked forward, stared at Zhao Ning, and after a long while said, "Throw her in!"
The eunuch picked up Zhao Ning and threw her directly into the deep pit, saying to Gui Yuan, "You handle things outside yourself. I'm leaving now."
There was a room ahead. Guiyuan went inside, took out incense from her bosom, put it into the incense burner, lit the incense burner, and gently unbuttoned her outer and inner garments.
Her snow-white skin was faintly visible.
It was cold today, and there was no heating in the house, so she didn't dare take off all her clothes and just lay on the couch fully clothed.
She took a deep breath of the fragrance emanating from the incense burner, and soon her face became flushed.
……
Feng Zizhou was led to a pavilion by a maid, but he didn't see Zhao Ning, so he asked, "Where is the county princess?"
The maid looked around in surprise and said, "The county princess said she was waiting for you under the eaves over there, but now we don't know where she is."
"They're probably just playing around." Feng Zizhou didn't think much of it. Seeing a group of young women playing over there, he went over and asked, "Have you seen Princess Zhao Ning?"
One of the women said, "She said she had something to say to Guiyuan and took Guiyuan to the West Garden."
"West Garden?" Feng Zizhou asked, puzzled. "What are they going to West Garden for?"
The young woman shook her head: "I don't know. Guiyuan told me that Princess Zhao Ning asked her to go to the West Garden to see something."
Feng Zizhou was speechless. Why did Zhao Ning talk to her first, and then go to find Gui Yuan?
He initially didn't want to pay attention, but then he thought that since Zhao Ning had contacted him, she might have something to say. Besides, the rumors about Xiyuan were frightening; wouldn't two young women be afraid to go there?
Let's go anyway.
Feng Zizhou entered the West Garden and walked along, but didn't see anyone. However, he spotted a piece of broken fabric, sky blue in color, by a flower bed.
Today, Zhao Ning is wearing a sky-blue dress.
Why are her clothes torn? Has something happened?
Feng Zizhou was anxious. He looked around and saw a small courtyard nearby with its gate open.
He rushed over, pushed open the courtyard gate, and went inside, calling out, "Zhao Ning, Zhao Ning... Gui Yuan, are you there?"
A rustling sound came from inside the room. Feng Zizhou disregarded everything else and pushed open the door, immediately smelling a strange fragrance. A woman's graceful figure was reflected on the screen, along with her clothes tossed aside.
Feng Zizhou was taken aback, and then it seemed as if a ball of fire sank down, making it somewhat difficult for him to control.
……
Meanwhile, in the main courtyard where the ladies were talking, everyone was chatting casually.
Suddenly, a lady spoke up, saying to the wife of the heir apparent, "Madam, I've heard that your fourth young master is about to have a happy event?"
The Crown Prince's wife was taken aback and shook her head: "We are still looking at each other and have not yet made a decision."
The lady turned her gaze to Madam Gui, covered her mouth and laughed, "A handsome man and a beautiful woman, a match made in heaven, why bother with all the pretense?"
The Crown Prince's wife was slightly annoyed upon hearing this. To protect Gui Yuan's reputation, the Feng family's actions were always conducted in secret and never leaked to outsiders.
Even if someone sees something out of it, they won't make things up.
But this lady spoke with such certainty, could it be that Madam Gui leaked the information?