The Ninth Lady is a rebellious person.

Chapter 272 Resolving the Grievance

The poor scholar ghost hurled a loud curse, but it was all bark and no bite. He dared not do anything to Lang Jiuchuan. He may be poor and old, but after years of being both human and ghost, he knew right from wrong and was well aware of whether the other party was someone to be trifled with.

Especially after Lang Jiuchuan gave him a beating, he felt his soul weaken a bit, so he didn't dare to provoke her and could only put on a brave front with a few words.

Liang Jinfeng, however, was different. He too heard the eerie curses and was so frightened that his legs went limp like overcooked noodles, unable to muster any strength. His face turned deathly pale as he stared in the direction of the curses, trembling as he asked, "Who? What kind of ghost is this? I, Liang Jinfeng, have lived most of my life without ever making a mistake. I'm a kind and charitable person, and I've never done anything wrong. Why are you bothering me?"

Lang Jiuchuan looked at the poor scholar and said, "It is said that it is better to resolve enmity than to create it. Whatever grudge you have with him, just resolve it. Why keep entangled? You have been a ghost for many years and have not been reincarnated just to haunt him. You did not even try to kill him. It is clear that it is just a small grudge. Why not resolve it?"

"So what if I don't understand?" the poor scholar said stubbornly.

Lang Jiuchuan said, "Then I have no choice but to forcibly send you to the gates of hell."

"You, you dare!" He made a face and said, "I won't reincarnate. Even ghosts can't do anything to me, so how could you?"

“You’ve ruined his future and harmed his well-being.” Lang Jiuchuan shook his head slightly and said, “If he passes the imperial examination and becomes an official, he will speak up for the people and be a good official. If a place has a good official, that place will become rich and the people will live in peace. By delaying his progress, aren’t you harming the well-being of the people? You will bear this karmic burden and you will never be able to be reborn into a good family.”

When Lang Jiuchuan said this, Liang Jinfeng was stunned. He hadn't even become an official yet, and this young boss already had such a high opinion of him?

If he can't do it, wouldn't it mean she's wrong?
"Does he think he can be a good official?" The poor scholar was clearly unconvinced, his white beard fluttering in the wind.

Lang Jiuchuan said calmly, "You've been following him for more than a day or two, but for over a decade. You know better than anyone what kind of person he is, whether openly or secretly."

The impoverished scholar choked on his words, offering no rebuttal. Indeed, some people have one face in public and another in private, living with a mask on. But Liang Jinfeng, though he has a bunch of minor flaws, is a decent person, not the kind of hypocrite, and he even helps the elderly and weak.

Seeing that he did not refute, Lang Jiuchuan continued, "Then in your old eyes, can such a person be a good official?"

The impoverished scholar opened his mouth, but after a long pause, he managed to utter, "Who knows? Some people, even if they are good people, may not be able to become good officials."

“A person who cares about the people will always achieve something, it’s just a matter of how much they achieve.” Seeing that his tone had softened, Lang Jiuchuan asked, “Then what grudge do you have against him?”

The impoverished scholar, his face filled with reminiscence and sorrow, glared at Liang Jinfeng resentfully and sighed, "Actually, it's nothing. My original name was Sun Gui, a true scholar named Sun. We were from the same hometown, but I wasn't as lucky as him. I only passed the county-level exam at the age of twenty, and after that, I kept failing the autumn exams. I was truly unsuccessful in every attempt. When I died, I was still a frustrated and unfulfilled scholar."

Sun Xiucai looked somewhat dejected and said, "But there are quite a few people like me. Some are even worse than me. They take the exams until they die, and they're still just a 'child scholar' (童生), never even passing the county-level exam. That's probably just the kind of talent people like us have, and we're just resentful. But this guy, once he got his way, became arrogant. He passed the provincial-level exam, drank some horse urine, and started laughing at us, Sun Xiucai, who have taken the exams our whole lives and failed repeatedly. I took the exams at the same time as him, and I couldn't stand it. The more I thought about it, the more indignant I became, and I died of anger. This resentment couldn't be dispelled, so I couldn't be reincarnated and stayed with him. I want to make him experience the pain of failing the exams repeatedly, and see if he still dares to be arrogant."

Lang Jiuchuan was speechless: "So just because he spoke rudely, you always cause him trouble when he takes the spring exam?"

Sun Xiucai felt a little guilty and said, "It's just a small punishment, just to let him know the pain of failing the exam."

"Have you ever considered that it's not that he failed the exam, but that you were the one who made him fail? It's not that his literary talent is limited, but that he was held back?" Lang Jiuchuan said calmly. "If you had such literary talent, you could have been parading through the streets wearing apricot blossoms, but because someone was making fun of you, you missed out time and time again. What would you do?"

Sun Xiucai's face turned pale, and he became increasingly helpless.

If it were him, then the other party would be no different from his father's killer. "I, I was originally thinking of just dealing with him this one more time and then letting it go." He said sullenly, not daring to look at Liang Jinfeng again, and said, "Who told him to be so disdainful of people who fail the exam repeatedly? We've suffered enough, and they still take advantage of our suffering to show off, which is hateful."

Liang Jinfeng couldn't hear what Sun Xiucai was saying, but he could infer something from Lang Jiuchuan's words: the reason he failed the exam was because there was a ghost around him causing trouble!

What a terrible injustice!
He stood up angrily, wanting to curse, but he held back. He had followed him for more than ten years. What did he do wrong to cause such trouble?
The person has passed away; it's best not to add fuel to the fire.

He took a deep breath, straightened his clothes, and bowed in the direction of the cursing voice: "I don't know where I offended you, brother. Please explain."

Lang Jiuchuan then recounted the matter of Sun Gui and the reason why he had been pestering him.

Liang Jinfeng was taken aback and said, "Is it Old Scholar Sun from Yangliu Village?"

Sun Xiucai snorted.

Liang Jinfeng's memories came flooding back, and he realized that such an incident did indeed occur. He immediately felt a pang of guilt and bowed again: "Back then, I was young and ignorant, full of youthful arrogance. Once I achieved success, I became arrogant and offended you, sir. It was Huaifu's fault, and I will not defend myself for what happened yesterday. I apologize to you, sir. I should not have looked down on my peers after achieving success. I will take this as a warning in the future and wish to let bygones be bygones with you."

As he spoke, he knelt down.

Sun Xiucai was stunned for a moment, then suddenly lost interest and said, "So be it. It's my fault for not having the talent. I've made fun of him for so many years, that's enough. As long as he can really be a good official in the future, I'll leave."

Lang Jiuchuan then relayed the message to him.

Liang Jinfeng immediately raised his finger and swore that once he became an official, he would speak up for the people and seek their well-being. He would never dare to be a mere figurehead or a lazy bum. If he did not comply, he wished to be struck by lightning and reborn as an animal.

Now that things have come to this, the matter can be resolved.

Lang Jiuchuan then had Liang Jinfeng's servant prepare some fine wine and food, and buy incense, candles, and joss paper, which she then burned for Sun Gui. She also personally folded some high-quality gold ingots and burned them as well.

A talisman was drawn to resolve the grievance, inscribed with the names of the two people, and then burned. The grievance was considered resolved.

After seeing Sun Xiucai off, he accepted Liang Jinfeng's fortune-telling fee, offered a few words of advice, and said, "If you, Liang Juren, become an official in the future and remember me, just erect a small longevity tablet for me and offer a stick of incense."

Liang Jinfeng agreed to everything and left happily. Only then did Lang Jiuchuan look at Song Niangzi, who had been watching the whole thing.

Before she could speak, Madam Song knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly, pleading, "Please, little fairy, save my son!"

Lang Jiuchuan: "!"

Everyone's at work, right?
No, I do it every day!!!