Chapter 3: The Gatekeeper Ghost is Really Hard to Deal With

We walked all the way to the northwest corner of the courtyard complex and entered a door with hanging flowers separated by a wall. Inside was a courtyard paved with bluestone bricks but with no houses. Right in front of us, hidden by the bamboo grove, there appeared a black lacquered corner door.

Li Yaoguang, panting, walked to the door and stopped. The sun was already setting, and the afterglow of the setting sun was shining down. Li Yaoguang hammered his weak legs, forced himself to be strong, and walked forward to ring the doorbell.

Clap clap, clap clap...

After several hits, a rough old woman's voice came from inside.

"Who is it?"

Li Yaoguang did not dare to answer, nor was it easy to answer, for she was afraid that after answering, the door would not open again, so she just kept knocking.

She guessed that the person inside was annoyed by her knocking, because there was a sound of angry footsteps, and then the tightly closed corner door was creaked open from the inside, and a mean and sarcastic face appeared from inside, cursing.

"Knock, knock, knock, what are you knocking for? Don't you know what time it is? Do you have any eyes?"

This is the corner gate. The person who comes here would not be a capable person. Anyone who has a little status in the mansion would have introduced himself in a condescending manner when knocking on the door. The old woman knew it very well because she didn't say anything for a long time. So she was not afraid of offending the wrong person with her fierceness.

As expected, when the old woman saw that it was Li Yaoguang who knocked on the door, her attitude became even worse.

"Oh, I thought it was some master, but it turns out that you are the one stepping on the ground of the humble? What's the big deal that you knocked on the door of our mansion?"

It is easy to see the King of Hell but difficult to avoid the little ghosts. Li Yaoguang understood this principle very well. His aunt who was supposed to come did not come, and Li Yaoguang was very worried. He suppressed his worry and self-esteem from his previous life, and bowed to the old woman in front of him according to the memory he got from his dream.

"Hello, ma'am. My aunt said she would come out to visit me in the afternoon. Now it's getting late, but she hasn't come yet. I'm very worried. Could you please let me in to visit her?"

"Oh, my cousin wants to go to the mansion to see Sixth Grandmother. That's easy to say..."

Li Yaoguang saw the old woman guarding the corner gate in front of her laugh evilly, and spread her big palm in front of her and shook it. Li Yaoguang understood what she meant immediately. She wanted benefits, but unfortunately she was short of money and couldn't even afford to eat. How could she give any benefits?
Li Yaoguang felt embarrassed and guilty, with a look of embarrassment on her face. However, she was worried about her aunt who was concerned about her, so she forced a smile and said in a gentle voice, "Mom, you look like a kind-hearted person. Please be kind and make it happen."

"Make concessions?" Seeing that Li Yaoguang couldn't afford the money to buy her way through, the old woman looked disdainful, her mean triangular eyes pointed upside down, and she said with disdain, "Oh! Miss, please forgive me, an old woman. I am kind enough to make concessions to you, but who would be kind enough to make concessions to me, an old woman? If I let you in, and something happens later, and the higher-ups blame me and use me as a case, will you save me? No way, right? So stop making trouble, and let's go. Miss, don't make things difficult for a servant like me."

"No, mom, why is it so difficult? I just went in to see my aunt. I didn't do anything else. It's a very simple thing. Please be merciful..."

"What do you mean by 'you, you, you'? Why are you raising your hand?' I don't like what you said, cousin. What kind of place am I guarding? This is the corner gate of the mansion! It's a very important place in the mansion! If anyone can come in and out at will, then why do I have to guard it day and night?"

"Yes, yes, what mom said makes sense. Mom, calm down. Please give me some leniency. I..."

Before she could open her mouth to beg again, Li Yaoguang suddenly saw a familiar figure approaching with a food box and an unhappy face behind the archway with hanging flowers still shaded by green bamboo not far behind the old woman. Li Yaoguang's eyes lit up instantly, and she raised her hand and waved, "Fangcao, here."

The old woman followed Li Yaoguang's gaze and looked back. Who else could it be but Fangcao, the first-class maidservant of the unfavored Sixth Mistress in the mansion? In this mansion, people always flatter the weak and flatter the weak. If you follow a favored master, even a servant will have status. But if you follow a bad master, even if you are first-class, you will still be...

Ah!
The old woman smiled coldly, lowered her eyes, and her face became even more mean. She immediately looked down on Fangcao who was walking towards her angrily.

"Fangcao, you are also an old man in the mansion, so you must know the rules of the mansion. The door of this mansion is not for just anyone to enter. Later, remember to tell your master about it, so as not to break the rules of the mansion. I am afraid that I will have a hard time explaining it to the Marquis's wife."

Fangcao was busy looking for a way out. She was already upset when she was assigned the job of delivering meals as soon as she returned to the smelly and shabby courtyard of the sixth room. Now she saw that a servant girl who was guarding the gate was looking down on her, which made her even more angry.

But she still didn't dare to openly quarrel with this old woman. After all, following such a cowardly master, she would not be able to be powerful even if she was a powerful person, and she would have to hold back her anger and deal with all these ghosts and spirits.

However, Fangcao, who prided herself on being proud, did not allow herself to bow her head, and sneered.

"Oh, look at what Madam Zhou said. Even if the master is not, he is still the master. When will it be your turn as a lowly servant to speak out? Even if you say this to the Madam, I am not afraid. But when the time comes, I don't know if your daughter, who is a maidservant in the Third Master's place, can protect you."

"you!"

"What do you mean? Get out of the way!" They are all people working in the rooms of illegitimate men in the mansion. Who is nobler than who?

Fangcao rudely pushed Mrs. Zhou away and glared at the troublemaker Li Yaoguang with a sarcastic tone.

"Miss, my father and grandmother have been so worried and spent so much effort on you. Now that you are well again, please remember the kindness of the master and the servants and stop causing trouble for us, okay?"

Speaking angrily, Fangcao rudely stuffed the food box in her hand into Li Yaoguang's hand. She then looked at Mother Zhou with contempt, and then flicked her embroidered handkerchief, turned around and walked away gracefully, which made Mother Zhou very angry and she spat at Fangcao's back, cursing her like a slut and a climber, and in short, she cursed her in all the ugly ways.

Maybe it was because he had not recovered from his illness completely, or maybe it was because he was still confused after traveling through time. Li Yaoguang was holding the food box that was stuffed in his hand when he was scolded by a person who looked familiar in his memory but was actually unfamiliar. Li Yaoguang was really a little unable to react. It was only after the old woman named Zhou Mama in front of him cursed him after the fact that Li Yaoguang came back to his senses.

Seeing that the powerful girl named Fangcao was about to enter the hanging flower archway, Li Yaoguang didn't care about the heaviness of the food box in his hand, and leaned forward and shouted hurriedly: "Sister Fangcao, are my aunt and the others okay?"

The voice traveled far away, but Li Yaoguang could only watch. The figure who stepped into the door obviously paused after hearing her shout, but stepped in again without looking back, without giving her any response.

It’s just... infuriating!
Seeing this, Mrs. Zhou laughed, rolled her eyes at Li Yaoguang, and made some sarcastic remarks.

"Oh, cousin, are you satisfied this time? It's not that I, the old woman, won't let you in, but even your aunt's top maid won't pay attention to you! Hehehe..."

Li Yaoguang also laughed. He didn't want to argue with this snobbish and greedy old woman. Besides, he was really hungry, so he smiled at Old Woman Zhou, turned around and left with the food box.

(End of this chapter)