Before Lu Zizhan finished speaking, another rogue squeezed out from the crowd, claiming he personally saw Lu Zizhan drag the woman into his home.
"You intend to impose a crime, what crime cannot be confessed? You have merely accepted the Ni family's silver coins, wishing to exonerate them."
"But you forgot, I am a scholar with a title, no matter what you do, don't think you can turn black into white!"
The constable saw this, and immediately turned his gaze to the harlot.
The latter understood tacitly and immediately shouted, "Officer! When this shameless beast defiled me, I bit his chest, this is the evidence! He says I framed him, but is the purity he defiled not real?"
The leading constable immediately ordered someone to tear open Lu Zizhan's clothes, and indeed, teeth marks were laid out on his chest.
Now that there were both witness and material evidence, Lu Zizhan had no words to argue.
After the Prefectural Magistrate's Office sent the case files to the provincial education office, Lu Zizhan's title was revoked and he was stripped of his clothes and crest, the Prefect then instructed the local County Government Office to handle Lu Zizhan's case.
In order to make Lu Zizhan sign the confession, the County Magistrate personally came forward and said, "Scholar Lu, you can only blame yourself for not understanding the times. Now you can't escape disaster, I advise you to confess early, to avoid unnecessary suffering."
"Bah!" Lu Zizhan gritted his teeth, "Corrupt officials! You conspire together to frame the innocent, I, Lu Zizhan, stand upright and sit straight, I'd rather die than confess to this baseless charge!"
"What a cunning reckless fool, dare to roar in court and insult the imperial court officials!"
"Someone, beat him heavily!"
How could a mere scholar like Lu Zizhan endure such brutal torture?
By the time he fainted from the beatings, the County Magistrate signaled to the government officials, who understood immediately, and surrounded to block the view of the onlookers, forcing Lu Zizhan to imprint his fingerprints and sign the confession.
Alas, a potential champion, a righteous scholar, thus ended his bright future.
Lu Zizhan's resentment lingered, yet considering himself a gentleman, he became a yin ghost who still refused to harm others.
Yet the resentment constantly eroded his spirit, causing him immense pain.
Perhaps it was heaven's justice.
Just when Lu Zizhan intended to break into the Government Office protected by evil qi with his yin ghost body, to end it all, a masked stranger suddenly blocked him, claiming to be able to use small magic to hide some of his memories, allowing him to be free from resentment disturbance.
The stranger didn't leave a name, and when Lu Zizhan regained consciousness, his memory was already in chaos, the Prefect and Ni family who had framed him became bandits, and he became a scholar rushing for exams.
If everything went as expected, Lu Zizhan would now wander in confusion henceforth.
But he met Cheng Caiyun who loved eating melons.
As Lu Zizhan gradually recounted his past, he also step by step unlocked the seal left by the masked stranger.
When Lu Zizhan sequentially finished telling his life's story, his memories from life also returned with it.
Cheng Caiyun suddenly realized.
It turned out that the person who told stories to her every full moon night wasn't a living scholar, but a soul of a lone ghost who suffered a tragic incident!
Seeing Miss Cheng not speaking, Lu Zizhan thought the girl in front of him feared him.
But to his surprise, Cheng Caiyun not only showed no sign of fear, but even stepped forward, wanting to pull him into the shop.
"You're not afraid of me?"
"You haven't harmed me, and you chat with me to relieve boredom, why should I be afraid of you? If I were really afraid of you, I wouldn't wait for you every 15th of the month, save food for you, and you probably would have starved on the streets long ago...
No, you seem to have already died."
Cheng Caiyun felt sad, yet inexplicably happy.
"Miss Cheng, why are you so happy?"
Lu Zizhan was confused, why was this person secretly happy after hearing he was a ghost?
The next moment, Lu Zizhan saw Cheng Caiyun blushing deeply saying, "When you were alive you were a scholar, even if I married you wouldn't marry a girl who hasn't studied..."
"..."
Lu Zizhan's mouth opened slightly, unable to speak for a long time.
Was he being confessed to by Miss Cheng?
From this day on, neighbors would often see Cheng Caiyun talking to herself, sometimes laughing inexplicably, as if someone was chatting with her, teasing her.
The Wu couple at the Paper Mache Shop saw something amiss and thought that the owner Cheng was at the age to be discussing marriage, if she didn't find a family soon, she might really become ill.
However, when faced with Wu Yaohua's and others' inquiries, Cheng Caiyun said she already had someone in her heart, and the other party was a scholar!
The neighbors exchanged glances, unable to distinguish truth from falsehood.
Only Cheng Caiyun knew she truly had a husband.
"July 15th is the day we met, why not get married on that day, what do you think?"
In the empty Incense and Candle Shop, on the offering table stood a memorial tablet, inscribed with 'Husband Lu Zizhan's Spirit, Wife Cheng Caiyun Worships'.
This was a memorial tablet Cheng Caiyun personally wrote after learning to read and write with Lu Zizhan.
As early as half a year ago, Lu Zizhan's ghost had been eroded by resentment from his past life, no longer clear-minded.
To avoid affecting Cheng Caiyun, Lu Zizhan would go to the Government Office daily, borrowing the evil qi there to wear down his resentment, but the evil qi also wore down his ghost.
Lu Zizhan's form faded daily until one day, Cheng Caiyun widened her eyes, no matter how she called, how she tried to see, she could no longer see Lu Zizhan's figure, nor hear his voice.
She searched everywhere but only found a piece of yellow paper with words on it on the counter.