Chapter 1

“For four or five successive owners, misfortunes continued to befall them. Over the past ten years, no owner has fared well,”—this line comes from a poem titled Haunted House by the Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi. It describes a haunted house in Chang’an where every resident met a grim fate.

Dear readers, the story in this book begins with a haunted house.

In Beijing’s Chengqing Neighborhood, on Qianyu Alley, a neatly arranged two-courtyard mansion once stood. The owner, surnamed Lu, came from a scholar-official background and held the position of a judicial officer responsible for criminal cases in the Shuntian Prefecture court.

Officer Lu solved countless cases, feared no powerful figure, and was upright and incorruptible. He even brought noble disciples to justice, sending them to their deaths at the Xisi Archway. Among the common folk, he was highly revered and praised as the “Impartial Iron-faced Lu Qingtian.”

On the 16th of the first lunar month, after the Lantern Festival, when the New Year holiday had ended, the imperial court’s departments resumed their official duties. However, Lu Qingtian was conspicuously absent from the Shuntian Prefecture Judicial Office to report for duty.

Lu Qingtian was known for his diligence, always leaving early and returning late. Over the years, he had never been late. Even when requesting leave, he would send word through his attendants, ensuring no delay in his responsibilities.

His colleagues at the Judicial Office found his absence unusual. They decided to send a chief officer, Lord Zhou, to visit Lu’s residence to investigate.

Lord Zhou rode to the Lu mansion on Qianyu Alley. After the previous night’s heavy snowfall, the snow in front of the mansion had piled as thick as bricks, with no footprints visible, indicating no one had left the house. He knocked on the door and announced himself, “I am Zhou Chang, chief officer of the Judicial Office! Is Officer Lu at home?”

After waiting a long time with no response, Lord Zhou pushed the door open forcefully. To his surprise, the door unbolted from the inside swung wide open with a resounding crash!

Lord Zhou felt deeply uneasy. Drawing his sword, he rushed into Lu’s mansion, only to find corpses scattered everywhere, blood spattered across the beams, an eerie silence, and a sky-high aura of resentment!

In the end, sixteen bodies were counted. Lu Qingtian’s family of five, along with eleven servants, had all been killed. The red-stained snow appeared particularly striking against the white backdrop.

Only Lu Qingtian’s youngest daughter, Miss Lu Er, survived. She had been stabbed in the chest but not fatally. Lord Zhou rescued her, saving her life. However, as a woman, she could not carry on the family lineage, leaving the Lu family extinct—a complete massacre.

With the Lu family annihilated, the gravely injured and isolated Miss Lu Er could not support herself. Relatives flocked to seize the remaining family estate. The Lu mansion fell into the hands of the clan leader, but he soon sold it in haste. It was said to be haunted. The clan leader was so terrified that he suffered a stroke, leaving half his body paralyzed.

The Lu mansion changed owners several times, but one thing remained constant: the hauntings. Every owner experienced misfortunes—deaths in the family, demotions, or legal troubles—resulting in unrest and turmoil. It truly became as Bai Juyi described in Haunted House, “For four or five successive owners, misfortunes continued to befall them.” The Lu mansion thus earned its reputation as the most infamous haunted house in Beijing’s eastern district.

The price of the haunted house kept dropping with each sale, and everyone who owned it suffered financial losses. Eventually, no one dared to purchase it, even at a low price. It could only be rented out, relying on cheap rent to attract tenants. After all, what is scarier than ghosts? Poverty.

Dead ghosts? They’re nothing. Poor ghosts are the most frightening ghosts.

Fourteen years after the Lu family massacre, in the 17th year of the Ming Hongzhi era, the haunted house welcomed a new owner.

In the scorching summer heat, the green paint on the mansion’s main gate had dried up and cracked, peeling off to reveal the original wood underneath, dotted and mottled like the age spots on the skin of an elderly person nearing the grave.

A group of maidservants, with large kerchiefs tied around their hair and water buckets in hand, pushed open the paint-flaking doors. They spread out across the various rooms to sweep and dust, climbing ladders to remove cobwebs tangled in the beams. From dawn to dusk, they cleaned until the windows shone and the place was spotless.

Then, one by one, mule-drawn wagons began entering the courtyard. The convoy flew the flags of the Santong Escort Agency. Guards unloaded chests from the wagons and carried them into the main house.

Holding a checklist, the head guard approached a horse-drawn carriage in the courtyard. Bowing with his hands clasped, he said, “Madam Lu, all 37 chests have been moved in.”

The employer’s surname was Lu. She was Lu Shanrou, a fifth-rank imperial-mandated lady of the Ming Dynasty, a title called Yiren. People addressed her as Madam Lu.

The middle-aged maidservant beside her lifted the carriage curtain and helped Lu Shanrou step down. She wore her hair in a round bun adorned with white plum blossom decorations made of jade pieces and pearls. She was dressed in a blue wide-sleeved top and a white skirt with embroidered patterns, exuding an ethereal charm and a face reminiscent of the goddess Guanyin.

Lu Shanrou took the checklist and entered the house, counting the chests and handing over a pouch of silver. “This is the payment for the escort.”

She then pulled out a silver ingot from her purse. “This is for you all to have some tea. You’ve worked hard after such a long journey.”

The silver pouch and the ingot were placed on a red lacquered tray and handed over to the head guard by the middle-aged maidservant.

The head guard weighed the ingot, which was at least three taels. In a city full of nobility like the capital, this wasn’t extravagant but was undoubtedly respectable.

The head guard and his escorts bowed in thanks to Lu Shanrou before taking their leave.

Lu Shanrou then prepared paper, ink, brush, and an inkstone to write two invitations. She signed them with her formal title: “Madam Lu, imperial-mandated fifth-rank Yiren of the Zhou household.” The signature first established her status as a fifth-rank imperial-mandated lady, then stated her husband’s surname, Zhou, and finally her own surname, Lu.

She gently dried the ink and handed the invitations to the middle-aged maidservant, who was busy placing clothes from the chests into the wardrobe. “Aunt Wen, tomorrow evening, set up a banquet under the sycamore tree in the courtyard. Invite the two tenants from the east and west wings. These are the invitations.”

The new owner, Lu Shanrou, resided in the north-facing main house, while the east and west wings of the courtyard housed two tenants unafraid of ghosts.

By the following evening, the dense branches and leaves of the sycamore tree resembled a giant umbrella, shielding the courtyard from the setting sun’s afterglow. Beneath the tree, cool breezes wafted through the air. Three tables were arranged, each adorned with seasonal delicacies, including watermelon, water chestnuts, lotus seeds, five varieties of fresh fruits, roasted goose, stir-fried frog legs, and four savory dishes. The tables also featured three seafood items: grilled clams, boiled prawns, and cucumber mixed with golden shrimp.

The sumptuous banquet showcased sincerity. Aunt Wen crouched by a small stove, sifting wine, while its enticing aroma carried through the air, making one’s mouth water.

The host and guests, three people in total, each had their own table, forming a triangular arrangement. Lu Shanrou, seated in the middle, had her back to the sycamore tree trunk. The male tenant occupied the east table, while the female tenant sat at the west table. Each table had identical dishes.

The male tenant from the east wing wore a black net scarf and a sapphire blue robe. He was handsome, with bright yet cold eyes reminiscent of moonlight cascading over snow on a winter night. He ate silently, speaking little, and refrained from gazing at the host’s Guanyin-like beauty—a stoic, detached demeanor.

The female tenant from the west wing was an unmarried young woman. With bangs neatly touching her eyebrows, she styled her hair with pearl combs while the remaining locks cascaded over her shoulders. In the Ming Dynasty, children, regardless of gender, had their heads shaved except for the top, making them resemble young Buddhist disciples. Only after the age of eight did they begin to grow out their hair. Her bangs and back hair were too short to form a bun, so they fell loosely. Judging by her hair length, she seemed no older than fourteen or fifteen.

The female tenant had long eyebrows, phoenix-like eyes, and a lively and mischievous personality. She loved to talk and laugh and exuded the spirit of a wandering heroine. When Aunt Wen sifted the wine, she left her seat, bent over, clasped her hands behind her back, and tiptoed closer to watch the process. Her round nose twitched as she inhaled the scent, speaking in official Mandarin with a Shandong accent: “This smells so good! Is it Shandong’s autumn dew white wine? It seems like it.”

Aunt Wen quickly responded, “Yes, it’s autumn dew white, brewed from lotus stamen dew. A pot of it has just been prepared. Please return to your seat to enjoy the wine.”

The female tenant resumed her seat while Aunt Wen served the wine. She poured for the guests in order of seniority, starting with the older male tenant.

Unexpectedly, the male tenant reached out to stop the wine jug, saying, “I don’t drink wine.”

Lu Shanrou replied, “The guest has dietary restrictions—bring him a pot of tea.”

With the male tenant maintaining his cold demeanor, Lu Shanrou continued drinking a few cups of wine with the female tenant. Amid the exquisite food and wine, Lu Shanrou modestly remarked, “A banquet is incomplete without entertainment. I originally intended to invite musicians to liven things up, but as a widow living here, it is inconvenient to have the sound of music and singing. I hope you both understand.”

The female tenant, enjoying herself, asked Aunt Wen for a jug of wine and started drinking by herself. She remarked cheerfully, “The food and wine are wonderful! Madam Lu, you are so considerate!”

The male tenant, seemingly done with his meal, paused and coldly said, “What is the purpose of this banquet today? Madam Lu, you may as well speak openly. I have matters to attend to later.”

What an odd personality!

His words were blunt and stifling, but Lu Shanrou kept her composure, maintaining a polite demeanor. She asked with a warm tone, “May I know your name?”

The male tenant clasped his hands in greeting and replied, “Commander Wei Cuicheng of the Jinyiwei Training Elephants Office.”

The Jinyiwei consisted of two departments and twelve offices, with the most powerful being the Zhenfu Department. The Training Elephants Office was considered a minor post with limited benefits, which explained why Wei Cuicheng rented a room in the haunted house. Still, even a lesser office belonged to the Jinyiwei, which explained his lofty attitude.

The female tenant found Wei Cuicheng’s demeanor arrogant. Being fearless like a newborn calf, she spoke half-mockingly, “So we’ve been neighbors for five days, yet only now do we learn that you’re Commander Wei of the Training Elephants Office—a dignified fifth-ranked military officer! My apologies for not recognizing your status earlier!”

It became apparent that the two tenants had no interaction before this.

Grinning, Tao Zhu raised her cup to Lu Shanrou and said, “I am Tao Zhu, from a merchant family in Shandong. I came to Beijing to search for relatives. I’ve only recently moved in, and I’ve already encountered such an extraordinary neighbor as Madam Lu—what a pleasure, what a pleasure! Aunt Wen mentioned that Madam Lu brought this Autumn Dew White wine from Shandong. Are you also from Shandong?”

Lu Shanrou shook her head with a smile and replied, “I am originally from the capital. After marrying, I followed my husband to his posts. After his passing, I escorted his remains to his ancestral home in Shandong to observe mourning for three years. When I returned, I thought of returning to my roots, so I moved back to my family’s old residence.”

Hearing the phrase “old residence,” Wei Cuicheng finally lifted his head for the first time and properly looked at the charming widow, scrutinizing her intently.

Being straightforward and unable to contain herself, Tao Zhu nearly spat out a mouthful of Autumn Dew White. Covering her mouth with her hand, she forcibly swallowed and, coughing, exclaimed, “You—you—you…cough, cough—you are that—that resilient Miss Lu Er?”

This haunted house was exceedingly famous—almost everyone knew about it. It was so infamous that even the property agents dared not conceal its history from potential tenants. Chengqing Neighborhood was located in the central city of Beijing, right next to the East Gate of the Imperial Palace—a gathering place for nobility, royal relatives, and high-ranking officials. The area alone housed over a dozen princely estates, and property prices were exorbitant. The suspiciously low rent of this haunted house certainly had its “unique” attributes. Anyone daring enough to rent this haunted house likely already knew about its notorious past.

On the night of the Lantern Festival, the Lu family faced annihilation, leaving sixteen corpses and only one survivor. The tenants, fully aware of the haunted nature of the house, still chose to move into the cursed residence.

“Indeed,” Lu Shanrou poured the Autumn Dew White wine onto the ground as an offering to the spirits of her deceased family. “I am the second daughter of the Lu family. I have returned home.”