The Candle Burns Red - Chapter 7

The Wu family’s gates were shut, two red lanterns hanging high above them. As I went to knock, passersby stopped me with much the same warning the woman by the river had given. Now I understood why the Wu family’s candles had sold out in the capital. Rumor had forced them to close, leaving them unable to replenish their stock.

“Dear Pei, I really like their candles. Shall we join the excitement?” He nodded helplessly.

I took a jade token from my waist and announced, “I am the Divine Maiden appointed by His Majesty. I have come to drive out the ghost.” Niutou Town was close enough to the capital that many had heard of me. The onlookers exchanged uncertain glances.

Pei Xiuwen quietly rested a hand on his sword. “Will you not kneel before the Divine Maiden?” Under his intimidating gaze, they dropped to their knees. Borrowing another’s authority had its pleasures.

I walked to the vermilion gate and knocked. A steward soon led us into the main hall. A beautiful woman came forward, supported by a maid. Her eyes were wet and her face drawn, but her delicate features still showed. “This humble woman of the Wu family greets the Divine Maiden.”

I smiled and waved away the formality. “I hear your household has seen trouble. I’ve come to ward off evil and misfortune.” Lady Wu’s eyes reddened, and she invited us in. Pei Xiuwen followed, examining everything with caution.

The house was tastefully furnished, though yellow talismans covered its walls and heavy incense scented the air. Lady Wu brought us to an inner room. Seven portraits of young men hung there. “They were all my husbands,” she said with a sad smile. “None was fated to grow old with me.”

I examined each face. They looked different, but all had a strange quality, as though they were not living people. “Lady Wu, how did the seven of them die?”

She shuddered and burst into tears. “Every one… every one died suddenly on the eve of our wedding. Terrible deaths.”

There was more to this. Judging by Pei Xiuwen’s expression, he thought so too. When I said I needed to perform rites for the dead, Lady Wu arranged for us to stay at her house.

Before Lady Wu left, I asked, “I noticed the red lanterns outside. Is there another celebration coming?”

“I’m to be married again. But people say the house is haunted. I don’t want him harmed, so I was about to break the engagement.”

Pei Xiuwen and I exchanged a glance. The new groom had no idea of the danger he faced. Once she left, I asked Pei Xiuwen to send men to protect him.

“Don’t you think that’s asking rather much?”

“Very well. I’ll protect him myself.” I made for the door. He caught my arm. “Fine. I agree.”

If the seven previous grooms had died before their weddings, the killer would surely target the eighth. I learned from the servants that he was a local scholar named He Zijin. Lady Wu had supported his studies years before. He had returned home and opened an academy. The Wu family accepted only husbands who married into their household, and he was glad to do so to remain with her.

“What a devoted man,” I said, then deliberately asked Pei Xiuwen, “Don’t you think?”

He put down his official papers. “You seem very interested in him.”

I turned back to drawing my talismans, guilty despite myself. He was no fun. We had only just arrived in beautiful Niutou Town, yet he had brought a basket of official documents to work on.

“I’m going back to my room.”

He called me back. “Stay here with me tonight. If the killer doesn’t want Lady Wu married, they won’t want you investigating either. They may come for you.”

“Are you worried about me?”

“Yes.” He said it so seriously that I could not bring myself to tease him.

Exhausted, I fell asleep on the bed. Shouting in the courtyard woke me. Pei Xiuwen was already putting on his outer robe. “I’ll see what’s happened. Wait here.”

I pulled on my shoes. “I’m coming!”

A He family servant had arrived. He Zijin had not come home after classes, and a search of the entire town had found nothing. Lady Wu’s already pale face turned white. She clutched her chest, coughed violently, and fainted before she could draw breath.

“Carry her inside!” I shouted.

The household physician said anxiety had caused a brief fainting spell; she was otherwise well. But I remembered how haggard Lady Wu had looked when we met. She seemed to have suffered a lingering illness. While no one watched, I felt her pulse. Poison. It had been administered for a long time and had reached all her organs. Even if it were cleared, she had at most ten years left. Why had the physician failed to notice?

I announced that I would pray for Lady Wu, and no one was to come near her courtyard. Pei Xiuwen raised a brow. Did that include him? I escorted him out myself. “There’s something I need you to do.”

“You want to find the seven grooms?”

“I can never hide anything from you. Their deaths were suspicious. We need to open the coffins and examine the bodies.”

“People will curse us for it.”

“Has the Western Depot ever worried about being cursed? What’s one more deed?”

He gave me a sidelong look and strode away without another word.