My Lady Always Lacks Ambition

Chapter 659 - 643: Old Ghost Wei Xie

Just do it, then?

Qin Liuxi hadn’t spoken yet when Teng Zhao had already glared at him, sounding nice, if you can do it, go ahead!

The disliked Nian Youwei: "?"

What did he say wrong?

Qin Liuxi said: "Protected by the Heaven and Earth Contract, to act against him, I would suffer retribution!"

Nian Youwei gave an "Ah" of realization.

Inside Lei Ming’s body, Wei Xie felt somewhat smug.

That’s right, his pact with Lei Ming was of mutual consent. Once the contract was established, Lei Ming willingly offered everything to him, including his body and soul.

The saying goes that a saintly plea cannot persuade a determined ghost to change, and great compassion does not save those who choose self-destruction. Lei Ming willingly made a pact with him, what objection could the heavens and earth have?

Now, he could truly become Lei Ming, and if Qin Liuxi tried to beat or kill him, it would be akin to taking a life, thus bearing the sin!

Looking at his smug expression, Qin Liuxi’s hand itched as she said, "Don’t be too proud, contracts can be established and also annulled."

Wei Xie stiffened slightly and stared at her with a grim face: "Must you meddle in this matter? Think clearly, if you truly kill me, you will be guilty of taking a life!"

"I wouldn’t bother with such matters if it were someone truly vile, but Lei Ming is not such a person," Qin Liuxi said indifferently. "If Lei Ming hadn’t come to his senses and been deceived by you, he wouldn’t have sought help from a friend while lucid."

Wei Xie snorted: "So, he thinks seeking help will get him what he wishes? Once the contract is made, it’s not his decision to make. I am the one who took his place in the examination, which led to his high ranking on the list. What, does he want to break the pact after the examination and take back control? Where in the world could he find such a good deal? Dream on! Without me, he would still fail."

"You’re talking nonsense. My son has worked hard studying the saintly books, how could he possibly fail the exam? It’s you who beguiled him with demonic words leading my son to make such a pact, you terrible demon with a wicked heart!" Madam Lei woke up again and stood, supported by Nian Youwei’s hand, pointing at Wei Xie and cursing vehemently, then imploring Qin Liuxi: "Master, please cast a spell and seize this demon, we will give a lot of good silver!"

Qin Liuxi shook her head: "Protected by the Heaven and Earth Contract, forcibly killing him would result in the death of Lei Ming’s physical body."

Hearing this, Madam Lei’s face turned deathly pale.

Wei Xie said: "Before the exam, he was so anxiety-ridden that he couldn’t sleep and had doubts about his capability, his spirit was like a tightly stretched string, ready to snap at any moment. With such a state of mind, even if I hadn’t taken the exam for him, entering the examination hall would have been fruitless, resulting in his fourth failure."

Qin Liuxi didn’t speak, but she somewhat agreed. Clearly, Lei Ming was afraid of failing yet again, which is why he developed this pre-examination anxiety. How could he possibly perform to his true potential with such a mindset? And without performing well, how could he expect a high rank?

Lei Ming’s mental breakdown was the perfect opportunity for Wei Xie to step in.

Indeed, this was the case.

Wei Xie didn’t care to hide his origins or his deal with Lei Ming from them.

He was an old ghost who had been dead for hundreds of years. In their era, men from noble families had the custom of adorning their hair with flower hairpins and applying powder; he, being from a noble family, was no exception.

He died at the age of twenty-two, coincidentally right at the examination hall, passing away from a sudden heart attack after the last character of his essay had been written.

Wei Xie was a talented noble youth, also the hot favorite to become the third-place winner of his Imperial Examination session, but instead, he died right there in the examination hall. His paper, although completed, was not submitted because it was stained with blood.

However, his essay and answers were disclosed after the examination, and everyone praised its excellence, even the chief examiner commended it, saying he would have been named if not for his untimely death and the stained paper.

Some expressed regret and others felt fortunate; Wei Xie, who should have been on the list, was dead, and his spot was vacated, providing an extra chance for someone else.

The only ones who felt resentful and discontented were the members of the Wei Family and Wei Xie himself. When he was buried, his examination papers and ink were interred with him. Wei Xie’s frustration and obsession inadvertently caused his soul to attach itself to that very examination pen.

That exam pen, with a head made of white wolf bristles, had a handle carved from willow wood, and its upper half was intricately inscribed with runes.

Upon hearing this, Qin Liuxi asked, "So your exam pen is a talisman pen?"

Wei Xie nodded with a smile and said, "Indeed, although I am a son of a Noble Family, I am also a lay disciple of the Taoist Sect. I have a connection with the Dao; I regard Laozi as the Patriarch of Dao!"

Qin Liuxi’s head buzzed.

Wanting to hit someone—no, to hit a ghost!

No wonder he could enact a Heaven and Earth Contract; he must have been a lay disciple of a Taoist Sect and spent a lot of time studying Taoist Scriptures and runes while he was alive.

Wei Xie continued, "My soul attached to the talisman pen and stayed in the tomb, out of sight of the sun and the changes of the mortal world, day after day, year after year, gradually losing consciousness and falling into a deep sleep. When I awoke, this talisman pen of mine had already been stolen from the grave and sold."

"Was it bought by Lei Ming?"

"Yes," Wei Xie looked at Madam Lei and the others and said, "Lei Ming had failed the exams three times and had long been plagued by self-doubt. Although he had some literary talent, he lacked confidence. You all had high expectations for him too, and the entire honor of the Lei Family rested on his shoulders. One can imagine the pressure he was under."

Madam Lei and Mrs. Huang listened quietly, their expressions somewhat vacant.

Every family expects their men to achieve greatness, don’t they? Could they have been wrong?

"Even though a man is the pillar of his family, and indeed it is his duty to pass exams and bring glory to his family, Lei Ming was too eager for success to the point of lacking confidence, becoming apprehensive, and thus his mindset collapsed, leading to the formation of this contract."

Wei Xie said indifferently, "I repeatedly asked him if he was willing to sacrifice everything for official rank and fame, and he said he was willing, which is why I made the pact with him."

"You never said that by establishing this contract you could do whatever you pleased," Qin Liuxi said.

Wei Xie responded, "That’s because he’s an idiot!"

"Regardless, you tricked him!"

Choking, Wei Xie retorted, "If he hadn’t been so obsessed with wanting that official rank and fame, it wouldn’t have come to the point where I could trick him. How is his greed my concern?"

Qin Liuxi snorted.

Nian Youwei tentatively asked, "So, all of Lei’s exam responses were taken by you?"

This... this is just cheating, right?

But clever cheating that no one noticed, not leaking exam questions, but flawless impersonation!

Wei Xie said lightly, "Not entirely. After all, I’ve been dead for several hundred years; how could I know the current aesthetic tastes and preferences of scholars and literary men in this country? So the poetry was written by him, and at most I influenced it lightly. As for the policy essays, those I wrote myself. His mind could only produce superficial arguments, all flash and no substance, nowhere near capable of scratching where the examiners itched. Fortunately, before the exams, I had visited bookstores to read up on Da Feng’s national history and listened to the public discourses in teahouses, enabling me to write policy essays that matched the country’s current state of affairs. Given more time, I could have written better ones, but it was good enough to pass the exam."

Nian Youwei didn’t know what to say. No wonder Lei Ming kept rushing out to listen to storytellers; so this was the reason.

Qin Liuxi: "Indeed, tastes have changed; now it’s no longer fashionable for men to wear flower hairpins and powder their faces to look like a ghost."

Wei Xie: "..."

Are you focusing on the wrong point?