Chapter 18
Qiao Hezhi slept well through the night. When he woke up, it was already close to chenshi (7-9 AM), and he hadn't woken up naturally; he was awakened by a clanging and banging noise coming from inside the residence.
"Young Master, you must get up quickly."
"What is all that noise?" Qiao Hezhi asked, his vision still blurry with sleep as he sat up in bed and saw the bright morning light outside. "Has Mother sent for me?"
"The Old Madam has brought some ritual masters into the house. Six people with painted faces, dressed in a frightening manner. They're already on their way to the Xiaotong Courtyard."
"What!" Qiao Hezhi exclaimed in surprise, hurriedly putting on his clothes. Before he could even wash his face, the noise outside grew louder: "What on earth is going on?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, the door was pushed open. Several people wearing masks and tall hats suddenly barged into the room. They were identically dressed, holding various ritual instruments which they shook and danced with, the bells causing a headache-inducing clamor.
"Mother, what is the meaning of this?"
Madam Chen stormed into the room and pushed Qiao Hezhi aside with her arm. "Move!" she shouted. "You are the evil spirit who has bewitched my son! Today, I have brought masters to perform a ritual. Let's see you try to hide from them!"
Qiao Hezhi was utterly confused by her words. Suddenly, one of the masked figures holding a torch spat a mouthful of wine into the air in his direction. The alcohol ignited as it passed through the torch's flame, creating a sudden whoosh of fire that shot straight toward Qiao Hezhi. He instinctively stumbled backward, nearly knocking over the water basin.
The room descended into chaos. A basin of fire roared in the center, while the masked people whirled and chanted in a frenzied dance. Thick, acrid smoke from the burning offerings filled the air, making the entire scene disorienting and oppressive.
"Great Master, Great Master!" Madam Chen pulled at the leader: "Can the evil energy be expelled?"
The leader responded with a tone of great importance, "Old Madam, we will, of course, perform the necessary rites."
Madam Chen leaned closer: "Then is he actually an evil spirit? Can you make him reveal his true form now? It couldn't be that the Great Master's spiritual power is insufficient to subdue that fiend?"
The leader shot Madam Chen a sidelong glance: "Our purpose is to cleanse this residence of foul and negative energies. With the new year approaching, our rituals are meant to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. We are not demon-catching Taoists."
"If you had asked for demon-catching from the start, we wouldn't have come. If you want to catch demons, you must find someone else. There are two Taoists at the east city gate, but I expect they are quite busy these days. Many wealthy families in the city are setting up altars for rituals and prayers, offering not only generous payments but also preparing lavish food and drink. They probably won't take on business from small families."
"Old Madam, we will conclude for today," the leader announced. He waved a hand, signaling the others to stop their frenzied dancing. They immediately began to gather their ritual instruments, preparing to leave.
"Hey, how can you just leave? You took the money, so do the work! How can you leave before the task is finished!" Madam Chen hurriedly grabbed at them: "This was a wasted trip. Nothing was accomplished."
The leader did not hide his dissatisfaction: "It truly was a wasted trip. The Wu family south of the city has also invited us to perform a ritual ceremony, paying two taels of silver per session. Old Madam, you paid three strings of coins. We only came out of respect for the Xiucai's reputation."
Although Qiao Hezhi didn't fully understand why they had been invited to the house, he had gleaned some understanding from the fragments of conversation. It was largely because Fang Yu had taken his side yesterday, causing Madam Chen great dissatisfaction.
Seeing the masked people all had unpleasant expressions, it was clear they hadn't received sufficient payment. Otherwise, the frenzied dance probably could have lasted half a shichen, but stopping in less than a quarter of that time showed they were truly dissatisfied.
He was just about to have Siyu fetch some silver to send them away—after all, it wouldn't sound good if word got out—but before he could speak, he heard a clear, bright voice from the courtyard: "Well, isn't this lively."
"Master?"
Madam Chen craned her neck. Her heart sank when she saw it was Fang Yu who had arrived. "Weren't you supposed to be at the academy today?" she asked.
"If I had gone to the academy, how could I have caught such a lively spectacle of a frenzied ritual at home?"
Fang Yu waved his hand, and Xuezhu stepped forward and gave the masked people a few taels of silver.
He said: "We haven't lived in this residence for long, and it's our first time celebrating the new year here. My mother often complains of sleeping poorly at night, which is why we've troubled you all to come and drive out evil and avert disaster. We've caused you trouble. Now, please accept this hardship payment. I ask you all to perform the ritual ceremony properly to relieve my mother's worries."
The leader, seeing the silver and noting Fang Yu's respectful treatment of them, naturally became more amiable: "It is common for elderly people to feel somewhat unaccustomed after changing residences. Fang Xiucai, you needn't worry. We will devote our whole hearts and strength to performing this ritual ceremony well."
"In that case, I must trouble you."
The courtyard immediately became noisy again. Fang Yu had Xuezhu bring a table and chairs and watched over the proceedings from the courtyard, sitting down leisurely with Qiao Hezhi to drink tea: "Mother, aren't you tired standing over there watching? Come sit down. The ritual ceremony will take quite some time to finish."
Madam Chen stared dumbfounded at the two of them. Not only had the ritual been completely ineffective, but seeing Fang Yu taking charge and making arrangements, it seemed as if he had specifically invited the ritual masters to drive out evil for her.
Qian pozi supported her, saying: "Old Madam, is... is there some misunderstanding? Or perhaps that evil spirit's power is too deep, and these masters are useless?"
"These are the best ritual masters in the city." Madam Chen felt unsettled, muttering to herself: "They believe him, not me."
The ritual ceremony lasted until nearly noon. Before leaving, the leader presented two mandarin duck talismans for peace, saying Fang Yu had the fate of becoming an official, even a high minister, and also said his and Qiao Hezhi's marriage bond was deep, an auspicious sign of growing old together.
Qiao Hezhi accepted the mandarin duck talismans, his face bright with happiness. Foolishly, he felt the master's divination must be accurate and even rewarded them with two extra strings of coins from his own purse.
Fang Yu, however, remained skeptical. He knew these ritual masters were primarily motivated by money. He assumed they offered the same flattering predictions to every scholar and married couple they encountered. With the New Year approaching after the Winter Solstice, a few well-chosen auspicious words were a simple way to secure extra silver—a tactic they undoubtedly employed without hesitation.
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